BusinessMirror March 03, 2020

HOUSE PANEL OKS ‘SPECIAL POWERS’ FOR PRRD IN ‘BUILD, BUILD, BUILD‘

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

T The Nlex Harbor Link at Manila’s Road 10, a vital project seen to speed up the flow of commerce from the North Luzon Expressway to northern Metro Manila, is seen on Monday (March 2). The 2.6-kilometer Nlex Harbor Link C3-R10 Section is expected to open this month, cutting travel time from Nlex to Camanava from an hour to 10 minutes. NONIE REYES

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@joveemarie

HE House Committee on Flagship Programs and Projects on Monday endorsed for plenary the measure granting President Duterte “special powers” to speed up the implementation of 100 flagship projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program.

This, after members of the committee unanimously approved House Bill 5456 or Flagship Emergency Act of 2019 authored by House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman and Albay Rep. Joey Salceda. The bill seeks to complete these projects on or before 2022.

According to Salceda, this program

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has to be supported with special powers to fast-track the implementation as this would provide an inclusive growth, which means reducing poverty from 21.6 percent of the population in 2015 to 14 percent by 2022.

The BBB program which was launched in 2017 is aimed at ushering in the “golden age of infrastructure” in the country. It is the largest and broadest infrastructure spending program ever undertaken by any Philippine government in the last 100 years.

Salceda said the program is a work in progress but it could be done faster by easing procurement rigidities and empowering right of way.

The bill declares the existence of

Tuesday, March 3, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 145

Covid could cut GDP growth to 5.5-6.5% 3.3 to 3.5% T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), which began the fourth quarter of 2019, could cut Philippine GDP growth to as low as 5.5 to 6.5 percent this year, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia told reporters on the sidelines of a book launch on Monday in Pasay that the reduction could reach 0.3 percentage points if the impact of the

virus lasts for six months, and 1 percentage point in GDP growth if the virus infects the economy for the whole year.

This means that if the government expects a growth of 6.5 to 7.5

percent this year, a full percentage reduction will cut GDP growth to 5.5 to 6.5 percent in 2020.

“It’s not going to be a good year,” Pernia said. “[The impact could reach 1 percentage point] if it

Deficit as a percentage of GDP given the worsening impact of Covid-19 on the economy, this spells higher borrowings this year. The government aims to limit its deficit-to-GDP ratio to 3.2 percent between 2019 and 2022

[impact of Covid-19] will last until December but this is direct effect.

Direct effect of tourism, travel, and trade, imports and exports. There are still many indirect effects.”

Pernia said the estimates only account for the direct effect of Covid-19 on the economy through reduced tourism, travel and trade revenues.

See “Growth,” A2

End-January NG debt up 3.6% to ₧7.7T

See “Debt,” A2

PESO exchange rates n

See “Special powers,” A2

P25.00 nationwide | 4 sections 34 pages |

IS W.T.O. RELEVANT? PHL ASKS AS WORLD TRADE BODY FAVORS THAILAND

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

T

HE Philippines is calling on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to favor its retaliation against Thailand in their cigarette dispute to prove that multilateral trading rules remain relevant at the height of protectionism.

Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo on Monday said the ongoing standoff between the two Southeast Asian nations is an opportunity for the WTO to reassert its relevance. It can do so by proving it is an institution that errs on the side of those who abide by the rules, which, in this case, should be the Philippines, he claimed.

“In a rules-based environment, those who break the rules and who go unpunished, derive the most benefits—at the expense of those who diligently abide by the rules,” Rodolfo argued in a statement.

“This is an opportunity for the

WTO to reassert its relevance and decisively prove that it is an institution that protects the rights of those who follow the rules. The Philippines has and will exercise its rights and uphold the interests of Filipinos and of Philippinebased enterprises; and in the process, demonstrate that the WTO works,” he added.

The Philippines is requesting the WTO’s authorization in its move to suspend concessions and obligations on $594 million of Thai imports as a retaliation for Thailand’s noncompliance with the WTO ruling on their cigarette dispute, which dates back to 2008.

However, the Philippines failed in its first attempt to secure approval after the Dispute Settlement Body suspended its Friday meeting, where the retaliation was scheduled to be tackled. The DSB decided to call off the meeting— moving it to March 5—to provide the Philippines and Thailand more time to talk it over.

See “WTO,” A2

With Covid-19 hitting business, Peza seeks Citira deferment anew

T

HE national government’s outstanding debt as of endJanuary this year rose by 3.6 percent to P7.76 trillion, from P7.49 trillion in the same month in 2019.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasur y released on Monday showed the year-on-year spike in outstanding debt on the back of the increase in both domestic and external debt.

Domestic debt surged by 4.4 percent to reach P5.12 trillion, from P4.91 trillion in the first month of 2019.

Meanwhile, external debt also jumped to P2.64 trillion, posting a 2.1-percent increase from P2.58 trillion.

Compared to end-December 2019 level, the level of national government debt as of January this year reflected a 0.4-percent increment or P32.06-billion increase predominantly due to net availment of foreign financing.

Of the total debt stock, 34 percent was sourced externally while 66 percent represented domestic debt.

Domestic debt amounted to P5.12 trillion, lower by 0.1 percent or P3.83 billion from the end-December 2019 level of P5.13 trillion.

On the other hand, the national government’s external debt in January was recorded at P2.64 trillion, which is 1.4 percent or P35.89 billion from P2.60 trillion the previous month.

“national importance” in the immediate implementation of the flagship projects of the President.

The measure designates the chairman of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) as Flagship Manager.

The bill also authorizes special modes of procurement while installing safeguards through the implementation of the EO on Freedom of Information and the creation of a Congressional Oversight Committee.

The measure said an initial amount necessary for the implementation will be sourced from the current year’s budget of the concerned agencies implementing this proposal, and from savings of the national government.

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The famous Marlboro Hills of Batanes’s Batan Island, seen in this BusinessMirror file photo, offers a scenic view of the Pacific Ocean and the dormant Mount Iraya and is a favorite among foreign tourists. The Department of Tourism is counting on domestic tourists to make up for the huge income drop that tourist-related businesses are expected to sustain with the spread of Covid-19. STEPHANIE TUMAMPOS

2019 tourism receipts expand 20.8% to P482.15B

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

T

HE Phi lippines ear ned $9.31 billion or P482.15 billion in tourism receipts last year, up 20.8 percent from the earnings in 2018, latest data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) show.

This represents a turnaround from the 2018 figure of $7.7 billion (P406.7 billion), which was 9 percent lower from 2017, owing to the six-month closure of the country’s tourism magnet, Boracay Island.

In a news statement, Tourism Secretar y Bernadette Romulo Puyat said the constantly rising figures in inbound visitors and the corresponding income earned from

their total spending in the country, confirms the importance of the tourism sector as a key economic driver.

“The Philippine tourism industry’s continued impressive performance dramatizes the dedication, hard work and resilience of its stakeholders through a most challenging year.

See “Tourism,” A8

HE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) is appealing with senators to defer the passage of the bill rationalizing fiscal incentives, as any change in the tax structure will add to the injury of exporters already suffering from the coronavirus outbreak.

Peza Director General Charito B. Plaza said her agency supports Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III in his decision to delay action on economic bills to allow legislators to concentrate on addressing the coronavirus threat. One of the measures that will be affected by this deferral is the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (Citira) bill.

“We at Peza and the affected thousands of export industries appeal to our lawmakers to put a halt on the discussion of the proposed Citira bill with the continuous surge and spread of the [coronavirus] that plagued around the world,” Plaza said in a statement on Sunday.

She said exporters are injured by the global slowdown in the production of raw materials, as factories in China face shutdowns due to the spread of the respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan.

For one, semiconductor firms here

source more than 40 percent of their supplies from China, making it difficult for operations to run the usual pace.

Plaza added the imposition of travel bans and tightening of quarantine measures by countries are contributing to the slowdown in trade activities.

“Travel bans of many countries, likewise, affected airlines and the quarantine requirements in shipments added in the slowdown of export-import activities. Worst, another consequence is that jobs had to be reduced too by companies,” Plaza lamented.

The Peza chief is likely referring to the at least 300 workers laid off by Philippine Airlines, whom the firm apparently had to remove in order to trim losses, which ballooned with the outbreak of Covid-19.

Although the coronavirus outbreak is becoming a concern, the Peza chief said the larger issue for investors is the Citira bill. The measure, approved by the House of Representatives last year and is now just awaiting Senate approval, will cut corporate income tax to 30 percent by 2029, from 30 percent at present, and overhaul incentives granted to investors.

See “Peza,” A2

US 50.8970 n japan 0.4738 n UK 65.0413 n HK 6.5295 n CHINA 7.2804 n singapore 36.5456 n australia 32.9151 n EU 56.2514 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5678

Source: BSP (2 March 2020)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, March 3, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Senate OKs reso for SC ‘clarity’ on treaty exit

By Butch Fernandez

T

@butchfBM

HE Senate, voting 12-0 with seven abstentions, adopted on Monday Resolution 337 asking the Supreme Court to render a ruling on whether or not Senate concurrence is also needed in abrogating a treaty it had earlier ratified.

Resolution 337, introduced by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, was cosponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore R alph Recto, Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon with Senators Panfilo Lacson, R ichard Gordon,

Growth. . .

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The assumptions include zero travel and tourism revenues from China, 10-percent reduction from tourists and travel from other countries.

Wider deficit

He added that given the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, there is a chance that the country’s deficit may widen to as much as 3.3 to 3.5 percent of GDP. This, Pernia said, would lead to higher borrowings this year. The government aims to limit its deficit to GDP ratio to 3.2 percent between 2019 and 2022.

In February, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the Bureau of Customs (BOC) could see a reduction in its revenue collection due to lower total volume of imports.

The Neda chief said, however, the impact could be higher if indirect and multiplier effects are considered.

After an interagency meeting at the Neda on Monday, Neda Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning Carlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos told the BusinessMirror that consumer

Courier. . .

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Guerrero said in the report that BOC found out that the Rodriguez group had declared Excellent Forex Inc. as its recipient of the money, which entered the country from July 17, 2019, to January 2020, while the Chinese group brought its stash from December 17, 2019, to January.

Laws vague He also pointed out that the country’s laws on undeclared foreign currencies are “not categorical, and sanctions provided are not deterrent enough,” unlike in other countries like the United States where such attempts to underdeclare or not declare currency is defined bulk cash smuggling, and the penalties are far more severe than those provided under Philippine laws.

“Thus, it is not far-fetched that the ease of bringing foreign currency in our territory can be taken advantage of by lawless elements such as terrorists,” Guerrero said.

In a chance interview with reporters on Monday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia expressed concern over the issue, saying the country “will not look good in terms of international finance community.”

The customs chief also informed members of Congress of this concern, which he said could be used as “possible basis of policy changes on the protocol to be observed regarding hand-carried foreign currencies passing through our airports.”

He also recommended to Dominguez the creation of an interagency body to keep tabs on the inflow of foreign currency into the country via the country’s ports of entry, and to recommend measures to deter the use of these funds for illegal activities.

“Given the global threat of terrorism, organized crimes, money laundering and the possibility that such foreign currencies find their way to such unlawful activities, it is respectfully rec-

Juan Edgardo A ngara, Nancy Binay, Risa Hontiveros, Manuel “Lito” Lapid, Francis Pangilinan and Joel Villanueva.

No negative vote was cast as other Senators opted to abstain, including administration Senators Ronald de la Rosa and Christopher

spending in the country will take a hit, at least in the first half of the year, similar to other countries.

However, Neda National Policy and Planning Staff Director Reynaldo R. Cancio also told this newspaper that the effect will be temporary and could recover once consumer confidence returns.

“In the short term, this is going to be the reaction of consumers. Afterwards, based on experience from SARS, there was a temporary slowdown and it bounced back afterward,” Cancio said.

Neda recommendations

Abad Santos said the Neda is recommending that the ill effects of Covid-19 be addressed in three phases—safety for all; regaining consumer confidence; and building back better.

The only problem is, he said, there is no time line or timetable on when these can start or end given the volatile situation. In some countries, the spread of Covid-19 continues to rise while countries like the Philippines are lucky to only have a few cases.

“We still don’t know what’s going to happen. There are a lot of uncertainties,” Abad Santos told the BusinessMirror. “There

ommended that an interagency body be established through a presidential directive, purposedly organized to monitor the continuous inflow of foreign currencies by individual couriers, profile the personalities involved and the recipient thereof, and recommend measures to ensure that such sums of money will not be used in any illegal trade or activities,” Guerrero said in his report.

In November 2018, the BOC foiled an attempt by a Korean citizen to bring into the country HK$3,83 million, which was not declared upon his arrival at the Naia. The money was forfeited by the bureau but this case is still pending review by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA).

Also, a criminal complaint for violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) rules was filed against a Filipino caught trying to bring in $700,000 on November 26 last year, Guerrero added.

This case is now pending before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Pasay City.

Another Filipino was also found to have underdeclared the money he brought with him upon arrival here on September 21 last year, which prompted Customs officers to confiscate the $501,600 he had with him.

The forfeiture hearing on this case is ongoing at the Law Division of the BOC’s Naia district.

House inquiry The chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means on Monday expressed alarm on the information that a whopping $1.02 billion in cold cash easily entered into the country.

With this, Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said his committee will conduct an executive meeting with the BSP, AMLC, BOC, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency and Board of Investments, to brief the House on how the foreign currency entered the country, citing possible national security concerns.

“The $1.02 billion [which entered the country last year] is enough to shift

Lawrence Go. Also abstaining were Senators Imee Marcos, Aquilino Pimentel III, Ramon Revilla Jr., Francis Tolentino and Cynthia Villar.

Senate President Sotto, in submitting the resolution for plenary vote, stressed the need to clarify the question of law, citing the gray area in the 1987 Constitution on matters concerning the termination of a treaty. “We want clarity and I hope that, once and for all, the honorable Supreme Court could shed light on this purely question of law,” Sotto said.

Sotto cited Section 21, Article 7 of the 1987 Constitution that provides, “no treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred in by at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate.”

Moreover, Sec t ion 25,

is no timetable for this. At this point, we still do not know when it [spread] will plateau.”

He explained that “safety first” means treating Covid as a public health issue, prioritizing prevention and keeping all Filipinos “out of harm’s way.” This means lowering Filipinos exposure to the disease by developing protocols in reporting and encouraging proper hygiene.

The Neda official also said this means reducing gatherings; imposing “regulatory forbearance mechanisms” to prevent the further spread of the disease; and extending worker benefits that will help them cope with the ill effects of the disease.

Abad Santos said this includes joblessness which institutions such as the Social Security System (SSS) stand ready to address with unemployment benefits for members.

The second phase, he said, involves recovery and building business and consumer confidence in the economy. Abad Santos said once businesses and individual consumers are convinced that the situation is “safe,” they can resume their regular activities.

He said activities under this phase include boosting domestic tourism; government leading MICE activities; and retooling or

political fortunes, distort the competitive dynamics of certain industries with its regulatory oversight. The Committee on Ways and Means is completely alarmed, in fact, aghast,” he said.

“The reported $160 million [reported by Senator Richard Gordon] is just the tip of the iceberg. Based on the reports that we’ve received, there is also around $840 million that slipped past through Customs through the airports last year, on top of the $160 million,” he added.

Gordon revealed that dozens of Chinese citizens brought more than $160 million in cash into the country from December 2019 to February this year, which the senator described as having the hallmarks of money laundering.

According to Salceda, the money goes through BOC in pure cold cash but “the authorities don’t have the power to confiscate it because it was declared.”

Under existing laws, amounts of foreign currency exceeding $10,000 in value are allowed to be brought into the country for as long as they are declared.

“But the implication of this matter on our national security is frightening, particularly the source of this money, as well as where will all this money go?” salceda said.

“According to the Customs, this is a portable commodity and, therefore, this should be under their mandate. We are worried because of the overly complacent or relaxed attitude of the Customs.

So tomorrow [Tuesday], we are going to call for a closed-door meeting or executive session so that we could discuss this issue as it involves national security concerns,” Salceda added.

Former House Committee on Games and Amusements Chairman and now House Appropriations Committee Chairman Eric Go Yap of Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list renewed the call to investigate the bringing in of big sums by travelers from foreign countries, specifically from China.

Article 18 of the 1987 Constitution states, “after the expiration in 1991 of the agreement between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America concerning military bases, foreign military bases, troops or facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines except under a treaty, duly concurred in by the Senate and when the Congress so requires, ratified by a majority of the votes cast by the people in a national referendum held for that purpose and recognized as a treaty by the other contracting State.”

The Senate President noted that “although it is clear from the provisions of the 1987 Constitution that the concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the members is necessary for a validity of a treaty or international agreement, there

retraining workers.

For the third phase, Abad Santos said “build back better” means looking back at the lessons learned from the impact of Covid-19. This also means encouraging investments in health kits, vaccines, establishing a disease control network or institutions, and promotion of health lifestyles, among others.

Last month, Albay Rep. Jose Sarte Salceda told reporters he is proposing to create the country’s own version of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor and address diseases like Covid-19.

Salceda said the new center will combine the functions of the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau (DPCB) and Epidemiology Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH).

He said, however, that the new independent agency will be given additional powers and functions as well as the necessary funding.

Salceda said creating a separate agency will also assure the public that the government has the appropriate institutions to handle medical emergencies such as emerging communicative diseases and pandemics.

Peza. . .

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Firms operating in economic zones, mostly multinationals, warned they will be forced to pack up business here and relocate to another Southeast Asian country if their tax perks, particularly the 5-percent tax on gross income paid in lieu of local and national taxes, are lifted.

This looming capital flight is projected to result in the loss of jobs of hundreds of thousands of workers, as per industry groups. Estimates by the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines put job losses at over 700,000 once the Citira bill is passed and investors flee.

It has yet to be seen, however, how the delayed passage of the Citira bill will impact on capital inflow to the Philippines.

Last week Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said the country lost at least $12 billion of investments over the past two years due to the prolonged deliberations on the tax reform. Foreign investors are reportedly thinking twice about their business plans in the Philippines without a final fiscal policy in place.

Elijah Felice E. Rosales

Debt. . .

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According to the BTr, the increase in external debt was caused by the net availment of foreign loans amounting to P33.51 billion and the P2.72 billion effect of local currency depreciation on dollar-denominated debt.

Total outstanding guaranteed obligations by the national government also slightly decreased by P0.45 billion or a 0.1 percent month-over-month to P488.29 billion in January.

The lower level of guarantees was due to the net redemption of both local and foreign guarantees amounting to P0.46 billion and P0.39 billion, respectively.

This was tempered by local and thirdcurrency exchange rate fluctuations that increased the value of external guarantees by P0.24 billion and P0.16 billion, respectively.

For this year, the government has programmed debt to GDP ratio to be steady at 41.4 percent. Bernadette D. Nicolas

is obviously a lacuna legis or an absence of an explicit provision in the 1987 Constitution as to whether or not the concurrence of the Senate is necessary for the termination of any treaty earlier concurred in by the body.”

VFA, ICC exit not the issue

Sotto stressed that Resolution 337 does not seek to question the decision of the Executive to withdraw from the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States government or from being a signatory to the Rome Statute creating the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“The resolution simply seeks to find out if the power to ratify carries with it the power to concur in abrogation,” Sotto said, underscoring the Executive’s and the Legislative’s shared competency on

treaty-making.

He added that the question being raised “involves an issue of transcendental importance,” noting that it impacts on the country’s constitutional checks and balances. He added that, “it presents a constitutional issue that seriously affects the country’s legal system as well as the country’s relations with the international community.”

At the same time, Sotto gave assurances that the Senate leadership “adheres to the rule that the President of the Philippines is the sole representative of our country in foreign affairs, and I do not intend to go against the tide. I just want clarity.”

With the adoption of the resolution, senators are set to file a petition for declaratory relief with the Supreme Court soon.

Big cuts in fuel, cooking gas prices on Mar. 3

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IL companies announced a price reduction in petroleum products and cook-

ing gas.

Effective Tuesday morning, gasoline prices will go down by P1.40 per liter, diesel by P1.60 and kerosene by P1.65 per liter.

Seaoil Philippines, Petro Gazz, Pilipinas Shell and Unioil said they will implement the price rollback at 6 a.m. of March 3, they said Monday.

Phoenix Petroleum led the price rollback last Saturday.

This is the first price reduction for the month.

WTO. . .

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Thailand favored The cancellation virtually favored Thailand, who insisted on suspending the meeting unless the request for retaliation is taken off the agenda, which the Philippines refused to do so.

To this, Rodolfo said the Manila camp is optimistic the WTO will see through the tactics being employed by Bangkok to dodge the retaliation bullet. He argued the country should be given permission to carry out its next move, as the cigarette dispute was decided nine years ago and yet Thailand has yet to uphold the ruling.

He pointed out that the Philippines is even seeking WTO approval to exercise its retaliation rights at a time economies are resorting to unilaterally imposing trade measures, restrictions and barriers.

“The Philippines is confident that the WTO and its members will see through the tactics being used by the other party in order to impair the country’s exercise of its substantive rights.

The Philippines has been a decent and responsible member of the WTO, abiding by its rules and even spearheading key initiatives,” Rodolfo said.

Special powers. . .

Based on a list submitted to the House of Representatives, 26 of the 100 flagship projects will be funded wholly or in part by the private sector.

Of the 26 projects, 11 will be financed through various forms of PPP schemes.

Another 13 will be funded via PPP, but these are all unsolicited projects.

The remaining two will be wholly funded by the private sector.

The list also showed that 50 projects will be funded through ODA and 22 will be funded by the national government.

One project still has no mode of financing while another one will be funded through the national budget and another institution. Comparing the list of 100 flagship projects to the original 75 projects, around 35 projects were obtained from the original list last updated in July 2019.

However, these 35 projects include

Last week, gasoline prices went up by P0.30 per liter and diesel by P0.20 per liter.

Also, the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) went down by P3.90 per kilogram (kg) and auto LPG by P2.20 per liter last March 2 for Phoenix.

The same price reduction for LPG was implemented by Petron Corp. last Sunday.

The fuel price adjustment reflects movements in the world oil market and international contract price of LPG for March.

Lenie Lectura

“As the Philippines has already won the case, as well as the two appeals on the case, it is time to say that enough is enough,” the trade official added. “We cannot let the impasse in the WTO impair our substantive rights. Hence, we have sought authorization to already retaliate.”

The Philippines in 2008 initiated dispute settlement proceedings against Thailand over wrongful values assigned to its cigarette exports. In 2011 the WTO issued its ruling favoring Manila, to which Bangkok appealed and lost the following year.

In spite of losing both the proceedings and the appeal, Thailand failed to implement measures consistent with what was indicated in the WTO decision.

Deferring retaliation at first, the Philippines asked the WTO to investigate Thailand for its failure to comply with the ruling. Last year, the compliance panels tasked to probe Bangkok confirmed its noncompliance, and any appeals thereafter would be resolved within 90 days.

After Thailand declined to cooperate and exhausting all available options, the Philippines was compelled to file for retaliation to hold its trading partner accountable for violating the decision on their cigarette dispute.

Continued from A1

two projects that had several components taken off the list of flagship projects.

Projects in the China Grant Bridges project include two items—the Binondo-Intramuros and Estrella-Pantaleon bridges—that were initially treated as individual undertakings in the list of 75 projects.

Another project is the Pasig River and Manggahan Floodway Bridges Construction Project, which contained five projects that were individual undertakings in the list of 75 projects.

These projects are the North and South Harbor; Beata-FY Manalo; Palanca-Villegas; East-West Bank 2; and BlumentrittAntipolo bridges.

Another project in the original list, the MRT-LRT Common Station Project, was renamed the Unified Grand Central Station in the revised flagship list.

News BusinessMirror

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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, March 3, 2020 A3

Police imposes tight watch on suspected Chinese ‘thugs’ T

HE People’s Liberation Army (IDs) that were taken from two Chinese nationals who allegedly shot and killed a compatriot at a restaurant in Makati City last week are not owned by the suspects, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Monday.

The statement from the police headquarters at Camp Crame came amid an intensified monitoring into the operations of Chinese online gambling in the country.

“Based on the latest report that were given to us, they do not own those IDs. It is not their names and it is not their photos,” PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said, referring to the IDs taken from Yang Chao Wen and Kiang Yuan Wu, who allegedly shot and killed Yin Jian Tao, an online gaming worker.

“This means they only have the IDs with them,” Banac added. “But the PNP will coordinate with our counterparts from the Chinese Embassy in order to know the real owners of the IDs.” Banac said the killing of Yin by his two compatriots has prompted the PNP to tighten its watch on online gaming firms and their operations in the country, which have been blamed over a series of recorded crimes lately, including kidnapping, with both the victims and suspects being Chinese.

“Having this kind of incident, up to the point that it have already ended up in shooting should warn us that there could be more similar incidents, so we should be more vigilant and alert,” he said.

“We have seen that they are already involved in abductions and kidnap-

pings of Chinese nationals, and now it has intensified and already end up in shooting of their fellow Chinese national. So this is an indication that Chinese criminals will become more aggressive,” he added.

Following the shootout and the recovery of PLA IDs from the suspects prompted Sen. Richard J. Gordon to declare that China may be using Chinese online gaming companies to spy in the country, but Banac said this could not be confirmed yet. “We have no reports that they are spies. There is no indication or evidence to point that they are spies,” he added.

He, however, admitted that the increased presence of Chinese in the country also saw a spike in the number of cases involving Chinese, which, he admitted, is a “challenge” to the PNP. Rene Acosta

briefs D.P.W.H. ALLOTS P250M TO BUILD SANGLEY POINT ACCESS ROAD THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is to build a spur road leading to Sangley Point in Cavite next quarter, as the government aims to provide access to travelers that will fly in and out of the future Sangley International Airport.

Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said the government will spend about P200 million to P250 million to build the road, which should be completed within a year.

“It has been budgeted for 2020, so we will start that by the second quarter. We will build the road along the coast,” he said in a recent interview. The road, Villar added, will be free for the use of motorists. “We will use the coastal alignment. It’s a major road,” he said. MacroAsia Corp. and partner China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. was earlier awarded the contract to build the P208.5-billion international airport, which is seen to complement the future rehabilitation of the already-congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Lorenz S. Marasigan

D.I.C.T.’S ONE-STOP SHOP BOOSTS GOVT’S EASE OF DOING BIZ GOAL THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said on Monday that its has aided the government’s push for the implementation of the Ease of Doing Business Act through the deployment of one-stop shop in Metro Manila.

The first National Business One Stop Shop (NBOSS), located at the Philippine International Convention Center,

cuts down the process of business registration from 33 days to seven-and-a-half days by reducing the steps from 13 to nine.

“With NBOSS, it is easier to become an entrepreneur. It allows business registrants to save time, while removing complicated process and eradicating the fixers,” ICT Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II said in a news statement.

NBOSS allows applicants to business and employees, submit documents, and avail themselves of other online services. It hosts key agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and the Home Development Mutual Fund. Lorenz S. Marasigan

ASIA-WIDE MOVEMENT TO SUPPORT ‘SAFER’ NICOTINE PRODUCTS LAUNCHED TOBACCO harm reduction advocates gathered in Makati City on Friday, February 28, 2020, to launch the Asia-wide education and information campaign #smokefree4life and urged the World Health Organization and the Department of Health to respect the rights of smokers who want to switch to safer smoke-free alternatives.

The regional movement, spearheaded by the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates and supported by thousands of vapers and former smokers from different countries, aims to curb the smoking epidemic in the Asia-Pacific, and inform smokers about the existence of safer alternatives, such as electronic nicotine delivery systems, or electronic cigarettes, heat-not-burn tobacco products and snus.

PNP enhances law-enforcement capability anew with acquisition of ₧2 billion worth of equipment

T

HE Philippine National Police (PNP) has poured P2 billion worth of new equipment, including helicopters, under its disposal in a bid to boost the operational efficiency of its various units, police stations and tactical teams.

The additional equipment were presented and blessed on Monday by officials led by PNP chief General Archie Gamboa and Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, officer in charge of the Procure-

ment Service of the Department of Budget and Management, witnessing the event.

The equipment included two units of Airbus H125 helicopter; 37 units of medium troop carrier; 12 units of Toyota Hilux 4x4 Pick up; 25 units of 7.62-mm light machine gun; 7,700 units of Galil Ace 5.56mm basic assault rifle; 2,037 units of Emtan 5.56-mm basic assault rifle and 25,000 pieces of 9-mm pistol of various make.

It also included a bomb suit; three units of explosives and ordnance- disposal robot; four units of forensic comparison microscope; 501 units of enhanced combat helmet (ECH) level III; 3,413 units of undershirt vest helmet; 225 units night-vision goggles; 19,861 units ballistic eyewear; 4,640 units of DMR handheld radio; 397 units of VHF low-band handheld radio; 200 units of HF/SBB manpack radio; three units signal jammer

and 10 units tracking optics (fire control system).

Maj. Gen. Jose Ma. Victor Ramos, PNP director for comptrollership and the chairman of the NHQ Bids and Awards Committee, said the newly procured equipment were sourced from the funds of the Capability Enhancement Program (CEP) for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019, Congressional Initiative Allocation 2018 and 2019, General Appropriations

Act 2017 and 2018 and Office of the President Contingency Fund.

A previously acquired ECH, according to Ramos, saved the life of police Patrolman Juvanie Tugahan Libradilla, a member of the 1st Buk idnon Prov incial Mobile Force Company (1st BPMFC), when his patrol team was ambushed by suspected New People’s Army rebels while traveling on a convoy along Barangays Tikalaan and Dominorog

in Talakag, Bukidnon, recently.

Libradilla, equipped with the ECH, was hit by a bullet in the head but only suffered minor injury.

“If not with the high-quality PNP equipment, it would have been a different story,” Ramos said.

Gamboa said the equipment are part of the continuing effort of the PNP leadership and the national government to enhance the police’s aerial assets, firepower, mobility and tactical capabilities. Rene Acosta

A road map to run a business with integrity

By Henry J. Schumacher

A

BUSINESS strategy favoring shareholders and short-term corporate management is driving widespread income inequalities, corruption, human-rights violations and unprecedented environmental damage.

Luckily, business leaders increasingly recognize the need to change.

There is growing acknowledgement that companies will have to broaden their understanding of purpose, making sustainability, stakeholder partnerships and income sharing the new business strategy.

In redefining the purpose of a company, the company serves its customers by providing value prop-

osition, supports fair competition, has zero tolerance to corruption and pays its fair share of taxes.

Unfortunately, however, numerous attempts to implement positive change by committing to standards such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and voluntary standards on Environmental, Social and Governance have been undermined

by the inability to enforce standards in a consistent manner. Inconsistency in practice has resulted in ineffective implementation.

This shift toward a broadened purpose of the company means that corporate anti-corruption measures also increasingly will need to expand their focus beyond their traditional emphasis on anti-bribery and compliance. For instance, a diverse management team can significantly enhance the openness of the leadership environment and mitigate bribery and corruption risks.

Running a global business and supply chain is subject to significant corruption risks, as many negative examples of corruption around the world show. Existing business integrity tools can provide useful recommendations and suggest good practice on how to prevent, or mitigate, corruption risks through comprehensive anti-corruption programs.

On the other hand, if business goals do not take a specific business environment into account, these tools and recommendations can underestimate the potential for tensions between conflicting goals for management and employees.

To enable all stakeholders to better understand a company’s progress to implement and maintain an open, diverse and fair leadership environment, a company should disclose its KPIs, or key performance indicators, measuring diversity at its various managerial levels.

A standard feature of calls for a renewed definition of business purpose is that businesses have a responsibility of improving the societies in which they operate, such as fairly paid jobs, including buying from local suppliers, and paying local taxes while also respecting human rights.

Overall societal vulnerability to corruption may increase if signifi-

cant parts of society are unable to support themselves through a reasonable household income level, or if public finances are not sufficient to support public services.

In order for people to understand a company’s progress implementing and maintaining its commitment to each of the communities it operates in, a company should be transparent and disclose its corporate ownership structure and country-by-country metrics, in particular around tax payments.

Corporate political engagement can contribute to society, if it advances the interests of a broad range of stakeholders. However, if political engagement creates undue influence on, or unequal access to, political decision makers, there is a risk of skewing policy decisions away from the public interest.

Another key measure that would show companies are truly

committed to a new way of doing business would be to enable stakeholders to understand a company’s progress implementing and maintaining transparent and multi-stakeholder engagement processes in a consultative way.

In coming years, as the links between corporate models and behaviors and societal impacts become ever clearer, pressure on companies to prove they are putting words into action is only going to get stronger.

The Integrity Initiative, formed in 2010, wants to partner with national and local governments, the private sector and civil society to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the commitments members of the Integrity Initiative have accepted by signing the Integrity Pledge. I encourage companies to join the initiative today; if you are interested, contact me at Schumacher@eitsc.com

A4 Tuesday, March 3, 2020

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World

BusinessMirror Editor: Angel R. Calso • Tuesday, March 3, 2020 A5

Virus kills member of council advising Iran’s supreme leader

T

EHRAN, Iran—A member of a council that advises Iran’s supreme leader died on Monday after falling sick from the new coronavirus, state radio reported, becoming the first top official to succumb to the illness that is affecting members of the Islamic Republic’s leadership.

Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi died at a Tehran hospital of the virus, state radio said. He was 71.

The council advises Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as settles disputes between the supreme leader and parliament.

His death comes as other top officials have contracted the virus in Iran, which has the highest death toll in the world after China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Those sick include Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, better known as “Sister Mary,” the English-speaking spokeswoman for the students who seized the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and sparked the 444-day hostage crisis, state media reported. Also sick is Iraj Harirchi, the head of an Iranian

government task force on the coronavirus who tried to downplay the virus before falling ill.

Iran has reported 978 confirmed cases of the new virus with 54 deaths from the illness it causes, called COVID-19. Across the wider Mideast, there are over 1,150 cases of the new coronavirus, the majority of which are linked back to Iran.

Experts worry Iran’s percentage of deaths to infections, around 5.5 percent, is much higher than other countries, suggesting the number of infections in Iran may be much higher than current figures show.

Trying to stem the outbreak of the new coronavirus, Iran on Monday held an online-only briefing by its Foreign Ministry.

Foreign Ministr y spokesman

India’s riot toll rises to 46 as capital remains on edge

N

EW DELHI—The death toll in India’s capital from riots last week between Hindus and Muslims rose to 46, officials said on Monday, a day after false rumors of new violence led to panicked calls to police in many parts of the city.

The riots in New Delhi began over a disputed new citizenship law, which led to clashes in which hundreds were injured and houses, shops, mosques, schools and vehicles were set on fire.

Tensions between Hindu hard-liners and Muslims protesting the Hindu-first policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had been building for months when the violence exploded a week ago on Sunday, the eve of US President Donald Trump’s state visit to India.

Apart from a single tweet after the riots had almost ended, Modi has been publicly silent on the violence.

His powerful home minister, Amit Shah, has accused opposition parties of inciting the riots by spreading misinformation about the citizenship law, which fasttracks naturalization for religious minorities from several neighboring countries but not Muslims.

The rumors spreading on Sunday included reports of armed groups marching in neighborhoods while chanting slogans, and houses being set on fire.

The panic subsided when police reached out to both Hindu and Muslim religious leaders and asked them to help maintain calm in their neighborhoods. Police also issued statements and some lawmakers took to the streets to reassure people that the situation was normal.

On Monday, India’s top court agreed to hear cases filed by riot victims accusing leaders of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party of hate speech. Some of the victims accuse Kapil Mishra, a local leader of Modi’s party who lost his Delhi state assembly seat in recent elections, of stoking the violence.

Mishra had demanded at a rally that police shut down a Muslim-led protest in the city or else he and his followers would do it themselves.

Hours later, Hindus and Muslims fought each other with guns and swords, metal rods and axes, leaving the streets where the rioting occurred resembling a war zone.

The violence had largely subsided by Wednesday, but the Indian capital has remained on edge.

Most of the dead and injured were Muslims, with thousands fleeing their homes in fear.

Authorities are yet to provide an official account of what sparked the violence. Police spokesman Manjeet Singh Randhawa did not respond to repeated questions about how many of the hundreds of people detained in the riots had been charged.

The violence is the latest in a long line of communal clashes that date to the British partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, when the country was split into secular, Hindu-majority India and the Islamic state of Pakistan. AP

Abbas Mousavi opened the online news conference addressing the outbreak, dismissing an offer of help for Iran by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Iran and the US have seen some of the worst tensions since its 1979 Islamic Revolution in recent months, culminating in the American drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad and a subsequent Iranian ballistic missile counterattack against US forces.

“We neither count on such help nor are we ready to accept verbal help,” Mousavi said. He added Iran has always been “suspicious” about America’s intentions and accused the US government of trying to weaken Iranians’ spirits over the outbreak.

The British Embassy meanwhile has begun evacuations over the virus.

“Essential staff needed to continue critical work will remain,” the British Foreign Office said. “In the event that the situation deteriorates further, the ability of the British Embassy to provide assistance to British nationals from within Iran may be limited.”

While Iran has closed schools and universities to stop the spread of the virus, major Shiite shrines have remained open despite civilian authorities calling for them to be closed. The holy cities of Mashhad and Qom in particular, both home to shrines, have been hard-hit by the virus. Shiites often touch and kiss

shrines as a sign of their faith. Authorities have been cleaning the shrines with disinfectants.

Police have arrested one man who posted a video showing himself licking the metal enclosing the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, the most important Shiite saint buried in the country, according to reports by semiofficial news agencies. In the video, the man said he licked the metal to “allow others to visit the shrine with peace of mind.”

Meanwhile on Monday, the virus outbreak saw itself dragged into the yearslong boycott of Qatar by four Arab nations over a political dispute.

A prominent columnist at Dubai’s government-owned Al Bayan newspaper on Twitter falsely described the virus as being a plot by Qatar to hurt the upcoming Expo 2020 world’s fair in Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Noura alMoteari later described the tweet as “satire” to The Associated Press after it gained widespread attention.

The Dubai Media Office similarly described the tweet as being written in a “cynical style” while distancing the Arabic-language daily from al-Moteari.

“Noura is a freelance writer and is not an employee of Al Bayan nor does she represent the publication’s views,” it told the AP. “That being said, this has no relevance to any social media policy being practiced by the publication nor the state.” AP

France closes Louvre Museum as virus spreads to new fronts

P

ARIS—Coronavirus cases surged in Italy, and France closed the world-famous Louvre Museum as the epidemic that began in China sent fear rising across Western Europe, threatening its tourism industry.

The virus has spread to more than 60 countries, and more than 3,000 people have died from the COVID-19 illness it causes.

New battlefronts in the battle opened rapidly, deepening the sense of crisis that has already sent financial markets plummeting, emptied the streets in many cities and rewritten the routines of millions of people. More than 88,000 have been infected, on every continent but Antarctica.

Australia and Thailand reported their first deaths on Sunday, while the Dominican Republic and the Czech Republic recorded their first infections.

Italian authorities said the number of people infected in the country soared 50 percent to 1,694 in just 24 hours, and five more had died, bringing the death toll there to 34. Cases in France jumped to 130, an increase of 30 in one day.

China, where the epidemic began in December, reported 202 new cases in its update on Monday, the lowest increase since January 21. The city of Wuhan had most of the new cases but also saw 2,570 patients released, continuing a trend that frees up patient beds in the prefabricated isolation wards and hastily built hospitals in the area where the disease has hit hardest.

That brings China’s totals to 80,026 cases, with 2,912 deaths, the vast majority in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province, which still accounts for about three-quarters of the world’s cases.

South Korea has the world’s second-highest cases with 4,212, mostly in and near the southeastern city of Daegu. It has reported 22 deaths. Iran’s death toll climbed to 54 and its cases jumped overnight by more than half, to 978.

Cases in the US climbed to at least 80 with two deaths, both in Washington State.

While the virus has caused serious illness mainly for the elderly and those with existing health problems, most have had mild illness and some infected apparently show no symptoms at all.

But attempts to contain the spread of the virus have been far-reaching.

Sports teams have played in deserted stadiums in Japan and South Korea after leaders discouraged public gatherings. Tourist attractions across Asia, Europe and the Mideast were closed or deserted.

Islam’s holiest sites have been closed to foreign pilgrims. And governments have closed schools and encouraged working from home.

Adding to global travel curbs that have sharply cut visitors to places with outbreaks, the US government advised Americans against traveling to the two northern Italian regions with growing caseloads,

among them Lombardy, which includes Milan. Major American airlines began suspending flights to Milan. American Airlines will waive fees for changing all flights over the next two weeks.

The travel restrictions against Italy and the rising alarm in France could deal a heavy blow to the countries’ tourism industries. Spring, especially Easter, is a hugely popular time for schoolchildren to visit France and Italy.

“We had already registered a slowdown of Americans coming to Italy in recent days,” Bernabo Bocca, president of Italy’s hotel association, said in a statement Saturday. “Now, the final blow has arrived.”

Tourism accounts for 13 percent of the economy in Italy, with its art museums, archaeological sites and architectural treasures. More than 5.6 million Americans visit Italy every year, representing 9 percent of foreign tourists.

The United Nations said on Sunday it is releasing $15 million from an emergency fund to help countries with fragile health systems contain the virus.

“We must act now to stop this virus from putting more lives at risk,” UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said. The aid “has the potential to save the lives of millions of vulnerable people.”

In France, the archbishop of Paris told parish priests to put the Communion bread in worshippers’ hands, not in their mouths. In South Carolina, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston asked its parishioners to not drink from the Communion cup or shake hands during the sign of peace.

French officials also advised people to forgo the customary kisses on the cheek upon greeting others.

The Louvre, home of the Mona Lisa and other priceless artworks, closed after workers expressed fear of being contaminated by the stream of visitors from around the world. Staffers were also concerned about museum workers from Italy who had come to the Louvre to collect works by Leonardo da Vinci that were loaned for an exhibition.

The Louvre, the world’s most popular museum, received 9.6 million visitors last year, almost threequarters of them from abroad.

“We are very worried because we have visitors from everywhere,” said Andre Sacristin, a Louvre employee and union representative. “The risk is very, very, very great.” While there are no known infections among the museum’s 2,300 workers, “it’s only a question of time,” he said.

The shutdown followed a government decision Saturday to ban indoor public gatherings of more than 5,000 people.

Among the frustrated visitors was Charles Lim from Singapore. He and his wife, Jeanette, chose Paris to celebrate their first wedding anniversary and bought tickets in advance for the Louvre.

“We waited for about three hours before giving up,” he said. “It was incredibly disappointing.” AP

A6 Tuesday, March 3, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Making the country investment friendly

H

onda Motors Corp. recently announced its decision to close its plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna, ending an almost 30-year operation in the Philippines. It said closing the plant was necessary to meet customers’ needs through “efficient allocation and distribution of resources.”

Nokia closed its R&D facility at UP Ayala Land Technohub to consolidate operations; and Wells Fargo closed its tech operation in the country and moved it to India.

Closing plants and transferring and consolidating operations are everyday realities for businesses seeking to cut costs and boost efficiency. Critics, including the workers who lose their jobs, can do nothing to change this.

The only thing the government can do is to mitigate the impact of these closures, make sure workers receive their just compensation, and, more important, through correct policies and regulations, create an atmosphere that makes the Philippines favorable to investors and businesses, so they do not leave and instead consolidate their operations and work force in our country, instead of transferring them.

The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) of the Philippines in a 2015 policy brief, titled “Manufacturing: Creating Millions of Better Jobs,” called for the opening of new domestic/export enterprise zones, improved labor policies and increased training for labor requirements of low- and high-value manufacturing jobs.

The JFC said the Philippines could seize the opportunity of being a favorable manufacturing destination like Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam, if the government can lessen the costs of doing business here.

The government should also look at its tax reforms to determine whether these can help our country become a favored investment destination, while supporting the revenue-raising capacity of government agencies and ensuring the sustainability of public spending.

India, for example, has become a highly competitive investment destination after slashing its corporate taxes. Its rates are now lower than China, and most Southeast Asian countries, making it very attractive for foreign companies.

Our tax systems should be adapted to globalization and technological change.

There is no one-size-fits-all tax system to facilitate inclusive growth, but the government has to verify if the new Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act and the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion truly have a positive impact on economic growth, investment and employment.

There have been other complaints from foreign investors, for sure, like the lack of infrastructure, the high cost of electricity, corruption and the wishy-washy state policies.

The Philippines still has one of the highest costs of electricity in Asia, if not the world. Although households bear the brunt of high electricity prices, businesses are just as much affected. Costlier electricity due to higher generation charges further drive firms, including those in export-processing zones, to hire less workers, or just move their operations to other countries.

High power rates might make it even more difficult for many firms to cope with the sudden fall in export sales due to global troubles like Covid-19, and force them to cut some more on their labor costs.

The abundance of our natural resources should make electricity here cheaper, but they have not. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said in a report that our country’s heavy reliance on coal and other imported fossil fuels, high financing costs and uncompetitive market structures have contributed to making our electricity prices very expensive. It also said renewable energy, which our country has in abundance, could cut our electricity rates by 30 percent.

Business cost is the biggest driver of investment growth, but factored into that cost of doing business is politics, including the stability or instability of our institutions, and our democratic way of life. Political instability also drives away potential investors. Laws, regulations and contracts that are malleable, and a government that changes the rules on a whim also drive away investors.

Make no mistake, foreign investors and analysts are watching with keen eyes what is happening to Maynilad Water Services and Manila Water, and their contracts with the government, as well as ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal.

Investors look for a stable and predictable political environment. This is where the Philippine government often fails. Policy flip-flops make for a very unstable regulatory environment, and they turn off a lot of investors.

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THE Entrepreneur

G

lobal financial markets are panicky over the spread of COVID-19. Global stocks from Wall Street to Asia and Europe have crashed due to the fear of the unknown.

The coronavirus disease, as I have said earlier, will make a dent on the Philippine economy, but we should treat it as more of a blip than a lasting trend. It is similar to the blip that surfaced when the passage of the 2019 budget was delayed last year. That delay curtailed state spending for the most part of the first half of 2019, eventually causing economic expansion to slow down before a catch-up spending plan boosted growth in the latter half of the year.

COVID-19 will result in the disruption of the global supply chain, especially those coming from the industrial output of hardest-hit Hubei province in China. That, in turn, may weaken the economic expansion of the world’s second-biggest economy in the first quarter, and create a spillover effect to the rest of Asia and the world.

Uncertainty over the extent of the coronavirus damage on the economy of powerhouse China and on global companies operating in the country’s industrial zones has worried global stock market investors.

With the virus spreading to South Korea, Europe and the Middle East, traders are dumping stocks in search of safe investment havens.

They are lining up to buy 10-year and 30-year US Treasuries, which are dropping to around record lows.

The Japanese yen is also gaining a safe-haven status against the US dollar, although the greenback itself is hovering around one-year highs against the Australian dollar. Investors, meanwhile, cannot count on oil because a global economic slowdown will further depress prices in the international market.

I strongly believe the Philippine economy will survive and go over this

PSE: Where’s the bottom?

Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Dennis D. Estopace Angel R. Calso

Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

Manny B. Villar

Lourdes M. Fernandez

Senior Editors

Creative Director Chief Photographer

Macroeconomic fundamentals to shield PHL

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

I

N January 2018, the Philippine Stock Exchange Composite index (PSEi) reached an intraday high above 9,000. In October 2018, certain indicators flashed a long-term negative warning that had not happened since 2008.

While prices went higher from the time of that negative signal, 2019 turned out to be a year of relatively high volatility but with small overall price increases at least as far as the PSEi was concerned.

In October 2018, a few of our stock market analysts said that if you buy and hold for 12 months or so, you will do just fine. Except here we are some 15 months since then, and the PSEi is about where it was then. Further, the PSEi is down 15 percent from its 2019 monthly high and certain issues like Ayala Corp. have fallen 30 percent.

That same negative indicator was triggered in February.

However, looking at the long term of stock market movement is nothing more than an intellectual exercise with little importance to investors.

Who actually bought Ayala Corp. at P150 in 2008, and held it up to the 2017 high above P1,000?

Seasoned traders made a lot of money in 2019 because of the volatility, even with a basic range on the PSEi of between 7,500 and 8,000.

Long term for them is the time it takes for a price to top out from the bottom or to break that bottom for a cut. Unfortunately, most retail investors were “whipsawed” buying near the top and selling near the bottom. That’s what gets them to

hump amid the nervousness in the global financial markets. We have solid macroeconomic fundamentals that will shield the Philippines from a possible slowdown in global economic growth.

A benign inflation rate, higher tax revenue base, stable exchange rate and improving debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio augur well for the Philippine economy in the years to come.

The debt-to-GDP ratio, for instance, improved to 41.5 percent at the end of 2019 from 41.9 percent a year ago, beating the program of 41.7 percent for the year. The ratio is a clear indication of prudent cash and debt management, backed by steady economic growth by the Duterte administration.

The debt ratio is a critical measure of a country’s economic performance.

A lower ratio means an economy is producing and, selling goods and services sufficient to pay back debts without incurring further debt.

The Philippines, of course, will somehow feel the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is critical for the government to respond to the crisis to keep the economic growth target on track and the macroeconomic fundamentals intact. I am pleased to learn that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is readying its response to the virus.

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno

last week said the central bank would consider a bigger interest rate reduction this year to support the economy amid the impact of the coronavirus outbreak that already affected the transport and tourism sector. Governor Diokno’s statement is music to the ears of the corporate world.

Further rate cuts, according to Diokno, could happen, aside from his earlier commitment of a 50 basis point reduction for 2020. Diokno says the BSP has a lot of monetary space and fiscal space, adding that “if things deteriorate much beyond what we have originally forecasted, we might consider additional cuts in reserve requirement or in the interest rate, or policy rate.”

Diokno’s statement agrees with the observation of analysts and economists, who believe the spread of the COVID-19 could prompt central banks in the region to cut interest rates to boost economic growth.

I believe further rate cuts amid the uncertain external environment will protect our economic gains in the past few years and sustain the reforms that serve as the backbone of long-term sustainable development. Alertness and readiness to respond to any crisis will solidify these gains.

buy into the “hold forever and you will make a profit.”

Investors must always understand that everyone has an agenda, whether market advice comes from a guru, your well-connected brotherin-law, or stockbrokers. The first rule that I learned as a licensed broker back in 1974 was that clients should never take their money out of the market. That is one reason why there was a massive push for investors to go into professionally managed mutual funds.

But mutual fund performance is always measured against the main index. If the PSEi is down 10 percent and the fund is down only 8 percent, then the fund was obviously a winner, doing better than any individual investor could do.

The greatest fear and problem for the fund manager is if the AUM— Assets Under Management—goes down. Understand that prices do not fall on selling but when buyers walk away. Buyers—not sellers—determine the price. Before, the buyers were willing to pay P900 for Ayala Corp. Now they are only willing to pay around P650 no matter what the sellers want for their shares.

Are the funds gaining new money

right now? Highly unlikely. Are the funds selling now? Also highly unlikely, as they too follow the “hold until the price goes higher” dictum.

However, if they start getting withdrawals, the funds may have to sell to raise some cash. That will take some time, and the funds are hoping and praying the market finds a bottom quickly.

The market will continue to fall until—obviously—buyers start buying. Currently, the realistic downside target for the PSEi is the 6,500 area, and then 6,100.

Remember, we have not reached a bottom until the prices stop going down and—most important—start going higher. We need a Selling Climax when buyers buy lots of shares from extremely disappointed and frustrated sellers.

Until then, sit tight. Do not let prices go below support. AC was an obvious sell at the P860 area. You will still find winners even in a down market.

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stockmarket information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Peza Citira VAT Atty. Irwin C. Nidea Jr.

Even powerful countries enter into military alliances to enhance their capability

Tax law for business

T

he Senate just recently filed SB 1357 as its version of the much awaited Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (Citira). There is anticipation that this will not only rationalize incentives but also paint all gray areas of the current Tax Code with black and white answers.

One gray area that I am interested to be resolved is the question of “attribution” vis-à-vis the valueadded tax incentives given to Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) registered entities. There is an emerging doctrine that for a taxpayer to be entitled to claim for refund, he must prove that the input VAT is “directly attributable” to zero-rated sales. But “directly attributable” means purchases that are considered direct cost. I am hoping to find clarity in this bill.

This confusion is not apparent when a taxpayer has mixed transactions, i.e., he has vatable, exempt and zero-rated sales. The taxpayer just needs to compute the proportion of a particular sale in relation to all input VAT that was incurred.

But when a taxpayer is only engaged in zero-rated sales, it is logical that there must be no question that the input VAT that is incurred in buying a pen, for example, is attributable to the said zero-rated sale since the Peza entity has no other sale to speak of.

In other words, the input VAT incurred by a taxpayer whose sales is purely zero-rated sales is attributable to such sale. If not, to what type of sale should its input VAT be attributable to? The taxpayer’s input VAT cannot be attributable to vatable or exempt sale simply because it has no such sale.

Unfortunately, there are some CTA decisions that do not agree to this. In these decisions, the court said that the input VAT must be directly related to zero-rated sales for a taxpayer to be entitled to refund.

By “directly related,” the court means “direct cost.” When a taxpayer who has purely zero-rated sales, incurs input VAT, it is not guaranteed that said input VAT is considered directly related to its zero-rated sales. Taxpayer must prove that the purchase is used as direct cost. A pen, for example, cannot be considered a direct cost in creating renewable energy.

Has this gray area been resolved by the Senate Bill?

The bill maintains the VAT exemption on importation and vat zero-rating on local purchases of Peza entities. But there are some conditions. It states that VAT exemption on importation and VAT zero-rating on local purchases shall only apply to goods and services directly and exclusively used in the registered project or activity by a registered business enterprise located inside an ecozone or freeport. Sales receipts and other income derived from non-registered project or activity shall be subject to appropriate

taxes. You will notice that instead of directly attributable, the bill uses the phrase “directly and exclusively used in the registered project...” It is also clear that non-registered activities will not be able to enjoy VAT incentives.

This has significant implications.

Current jurisprudence (Toshiba case) states that all purchases of a Peza entity regardless of how they are consumed, must only be imposed VAT at zero percent rate subject to certain conditions. The Senate Bill, on the other hand, advocates that only purchases of goods or services that are directly related to registered activities are entitled to VAT at zero percent rate. If the goods or services are not related to registered activities, then the same is subject to VAT. Thus, at the outset, suppliers must determine whether to impose VAT on a purchase by a Peza entity.

How can a supplier know that VAT must be imposed? This can only be inferred from one of the provisions of the bill on duty tax exemption. In defining one of the conditions of duty tax exemption, the bill states that the capital equipment, among others, must be directly and reasonably needed and will be used exclusively in and as part of the direct cost of the registered project or activity. The bill used the term direct cost. If applied in VAT, it appears that for a purchase to be considered as directly related to registered activities, it must be used as a direct cost.

If this bill is approved, a supplier must impose VAT on a pen that is purchased by a Peza entity.

This is also true to the housing facilities and safety gears that are given to workers. Only purchases that are considered as direct cost, like boring equipment of a mining company or wind turbines of a renewable-energy company may be VAT exempt.

This bill answers some of the lingering questions on VAT exemption of Peza entities. But it also exposes some new fears. Not all purchases of a purely zero-rated Peza entity will be VAT exempt.

The author is a partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a member-firm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at irwin.c.nideajr@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 330.

Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

A

lmost a month has passed since the Philippine government has officially notified the United States that it is terminating the Visiting Forces Agreement. Pursuant to its provisions, the VFA “shall remain in force until the expiration of 180 days from the date on which either party gives the other party in writing that it desires to terminate the agreement.” Thus, the VFA shall expire on August 9, 2020, unless the proposed termination is withdrawn following a negotiation and agreement by the parties. Abrogating the agreement will have serious implications on our national security and relations with the US and other allied countries in the region. Meanwhile, many leaders in Congress and even among the President’s cabinet have warned of far-reaching consequences if we proceed with the scrapping of the VFA, which has greatly benefited the Philippine military.

Our AFP holds around 300 joint military activities with the US military forces each year, which enhance our defense capability, military operations, counterterrorism, disaster and relief efforts involving all the AFP service branches. The Balikatan Exercises expose our soldiers to modern military hardware, technology and assets of the US military, which is among the most formidable in the world. During times of calamities, we could always count on the US forces to respond immediately to assist us in our rescue and relief efforts, like what happened during Typhoon Haiyan (Supertyphoon Yolanda) in 2013.

The mere presence of US forces in our region deters foreign military

adventurism in our territory, particularly China with its covert design to occupy the West Philippine Sea. With the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca), which complements the VFA, the US can set up facilities inside the Philippines and place military personnel on a rotational basis.

Without the US presence, we will be hard put in confronting external security threats and in containing internal military challenges, such as subversion and terrorism.

I agree that we may not need the VFA indefinitely, but we should bide our time when we can stand on our own and pay for our country’s defense. Even powerful countries enter into military alliances with

Bloomberg Opinion

T

he daily counting of new coronavirus cases has become a grim fixture for politicians, investors and the public. The latest figures suggest the infection is past its peak in China, where cases appear to have plateaued. But it’s spreading fast elsewhere. Italy, which emerged as the epicenter of the virus in Europe last month, posted a 50-percent jump in confirmed cases on Sunday to 1,694—more than any other country bar China and South Korea—while France’s rose 30 percent to 130. Swathes of Northern Italy are in lockdown, while France has banned big public gatherings and advised against la bise.

But this critical indicator is

starting to look pretty vulnerable to changing testing methods and the nudging of politicians.

In Italy, the government is starting to wonder how much of the country’s case increase is due to potentially overzealous testing. Italy has tested more than 10,000 people so far, including people with no actual symptoms. That’s about 10 times more than in neighboring France, where the criteria for testing cases is much stricter. Italy is also officially reporting data from local regions before full confirmation from central authorities. This all looks too hasty, and even harmful with “too much testing,” according to Walter Ricciardi, a World Health Organization (WHO) official and adviser to the Italian government. Carriers of Covid-19 who

other countries to enhance their military capability.

Our pivot to China and Russia has been a sea change in our diplomacy and foreign policy. Only national interest should dictate us in charting our international relations with other countries. It would be unforgivable to be completely dependent on another country’s protection without any real assurance that such mantle of security will be timely and adequately provided at the opportune time. If ever, the looming confrontation with China over the ongoing conflict at the West Philippine Sea would be the first real test of our Mutual Defense Treaty with the US. How the US will respond in the event that China engages us in a shooting war is anybody’s guess. Will the US stand by its commitment or will it desert us when actual conflagration erupts between China and the Philippines? It would be foolish to expect the US, or any self-respecting country for that matter, to subordinate its own interest to others. The question after the VFA is abrogated is: Left alone to fend for ourselves, can we defend our country against foreign aggression and even internal threats like the Isis-inspired assault of Marawi by the Maute forces?

The current administration has not asserted our rights and sovereignty over the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea. Undoubtedly, our appeasement policy has resulted in significant improvements in our relations with China, which brought economic benefits to the Philippines in terms of increased aid, loans and investments. But is giving away our sovereignty in exchange

for economic gains a fair trade-off?

With our pivot to China and Russia, it’s strange how far we have drifted in our foreign policy. This may not bring us to war but it may cost us a lot more. For instance, how can we recover the Mischief Reef, which is now converted into artificial islands that China had seized from us on February 8, 1995? How can we prevent China from annexing other territories within our Exclusive Economic Zone, particularly after abrogating the VFA? Twenty-five years ago, Filipinos woke up to find a Chinese flag flying over the atoll known as the Panganiban Reef, which is just some 200 kilometers away from Palawan.

Since then, China has constructed a military garrison, and an airfield and stationed troops to reinforce its occupation of the islands.

The absence of the US military might embolden China to extend its reach. Severing our ties with the US and issuing hollow threats will not take us out of our predicament.

While nothing is sweeter to one’s ears than to hear that the Philippines shall pursue and assert an independent foreign policy, our bold words should be matched by armies capable of defending our territory. If we are short of resources and severely lack the wherewithal to enforce our words, then it is prudent to moderate our language and temper our threat. Nothing is more admirable than to craft a foreign policy that is self-reliant without seeking any form of foreign intervention to do for us what we should do for ourselves.

But we should be realistic. If we play balls in geopolitics, we should have the marbles.

China’s push to jump-start economy revives fake data worries

By Bloomberg News

T

he pressure to get China back to work after the coronavirus shutdown is resurrecting an old temptation: doctoring data so it shows senior officials what they want to see.

This phenomenon is playing out in Zhejiang province, an industrial hub on the east coast, in the form of electricity usage. At least three cities there have given local factories targets to hit for power consumption because they’re using the data to show a resurgence in production, according to people familiar with the matter. That’s prompted some businesses to run machinery even as their plants remain empty, the people said.

On Saturday, a newspaper in one of Zhejiang’s cities appeared to take aim at the practice. The Taizhou Daily published a front-page commentary criticizing local officials for narrowly focusing on power usage, arguing that hitting the targets won’t ensure economic growth. By Sunday, a link to the article on the paper’s web site was no longer working.

China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index plunged to a record-low 35.7 in February, underscoring how crucial it is for the economy to get back on track as soon as possible. The Covid-19 outbreak

has pummeled both consumption and production, putting millions of companies in peril. But if pressure for results from top leaders creates a distorted view of the economy, the risk of policy missteps by Beijing will rise, as well.

“It means that even the more tangential barometers being used by economists and investors alike will be rendered inaccurate and, ultimately, unreliable,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank Ltd. in Singapore. “And so looking for the black cat in the dark room will be an ongoing endeavor.”

While it’s unclear how wide the problem of doctored data is in China, there are signs that electricity usage has become a focus for more than Zhejiang. The official Xinhua News Agency last week published a story about production resuming in Guangdong, China’s largest provincial economy, using power consumption as the main evidence to show how quickly things were getting back to normal.

The use of electricity demand as a metric risks falling into the trap described by Goodhart’s Law, which says that economic indicators become unreliable when they become the focus of policy-makers’ actions.

Below capacity

Along the industrialized east coast,

Coronavirus accounting is looking vulnerable

By Lionel Laurent

Tuesday, March 3, 2020 A7

are asymptomatic might recover on their own—and Rome no longer wants them on the books. From now on, tests will only be conducted on people with symptoms, in a bid to contain what the government calls a media “infodemic” that’s hurting Italy. It may seem odd to want to test less—the more we know about a disease, the better—but the Italians have a point. Testing resources are by definition scarce, and some kind of prioritization makes sense to try to separate genuine “superspreaders” from “super-worriers” who clog up waiting rooms. Clearly, when dealing with a disease that has a stealthy incubation period around two weeks, being asymptomatic is no guarantee against infection. Still, the WHO in February advised that people with symp-

toms “spread the virus more readily through coughing and sneezing” than those with none. The challenge when politicians start to intervene in data collection of this kind is keeping public trust intact.

If Italy’s rate of new cases starts to fall, will that be seen as a result of epidemiology, or new methodology?

In France, where there’s a strict lid on testing, people with symptoms who aren’t eligible for tests (because they haven’t traveled to places like China) are openly questioning whether the restrictions are designed to keep case numbers down.

The Louvre Museum’s closure this weekend happened on the demands of its employees, not its management. Clear communication is vital.

This is made harder when testing methods change dramatically, as

demand for coal to make electricity was at the highest since January 24, but it’s still well below where it should be at this time of year. Along with anecdotal reports from across the region, the power numbers suggest much of the nation’s industrial capacity remains idle or is running at less than full capacity.

Many migrant workers are either stuck in their hometowns or facing a 14-day mandatory quarantine once they return to the places where they work. About 200 million workers would have returned to where they work by the end of February and another 100 million will return from March onwards, transport ministry official Liu Xiaoming said on February 15.

In Zhejiang, one factory owner said they were told verbally by officials on February 26 that they had to reach 20 percent of their usual consumption, a level the plant was capable of achieving. But some smaller companies are unable to restart work because workers haven’t returned and have resorted to turning on all their electric equipment, even air conditioners, to meet the quotas, according to two factory bosses.

The Zhejiang government did not immediately respond to a query filed online on Saturday seeking comment on the targets.

Beijing has tried to assure the

public that the economic restart is going smoothly, touting official statistics that measure the proportion of firms in each province that have resumed work, but don’t account for the capacity they are operating at. Data released last week by the country’s top economic planner showed industrial hubs like Shandong and Guangdong have more than 70 percent of companies back at work, while in Zhejiang the rate is over 90 percent.

Government officials on Friday took foreign journalists on a tour of two factories in Beijing to show that production had resumed. Officials at the Huadian Beijing natural gas power plant said that demand and output were about the same as at the same time after the Lunar New Year break in 2019. However, Beijing is not a large industrial hub and it’s unknown if the situation is the same across the nation.

If economic activity doesn’t return to normal soon across the nation, it may spell the end for many firms. A survey of small- and medium-sized Chinese companies conducted this month showed that a third of respondents only had enough cash to cover fixed expenses for a month, with another third running out within two months. (With assistance from Daniela Wei, Huang Zhe, Claire Che and Miao Han)

has been seen in China.

The declining rate of cases in China is part of what the WHO has described as post-peak virus behavior, suggesting the worst is over after tough quarantine measures. But it also coincides with a change in national state guidelines on February 20 asking for a simplified case count.

That change was the second in a month for China. On February 13, COVID-19 cases in Hubei province surged 45 percent to almost 50,000 after a revision in reporting methods. A decision was made to do more clinical diagnosis via lung scan, rather than just via specialized laboratory test kits.

Experts praised the measure as a way to respond to a lack of testing capacity. But the subsequent switch on February 20 has left some wonder-

ing how much of the ebb and flow of the epidemiological curve is really about the disease, or promoting a narrative that it’s being successfully controlled. (China has in the past admitted to underreporting data, such as during the SARS outbreak in 2003.)

Epidemiologists are used to statistical noise. Prof. Jennifer Nuzzo, of Johns Hopkins University, says that while the methodology changes in China have been puzzling, much can be deduced from the virus’s geographic spread, speed of transmission and severity of symptoms. Paradoxically, an underreporting in cases can be a good thing, as it suggests the true mortality rate—deaths as a proportion of total infections—is lower than the current estimated level of 2 percent.

A8 Tuesday, March 3, 2020

$370M brought in by 2 courier groups A

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

ROUND $370 million or P18.74 billion were brought into the country by two syndicates identified as “Rodriguez” and “Chinese” groups, and these money couriers, who were paid from P12,000 to as high as P50,000 per flight, were able to “escape detention” because they were allegedly “escorted” by members of law-enforcement agencies, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) revealed on Monday.

In a Januar y 29 report to Fi n a nce Sec ret a r y C a rlos G. Dominguez, BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said they learned through their backtrack ing and intensif ied monitoring activities that the “Rodriguez group” brought in foreign currencies amounting to about $20 0.24 mi l l ion or around P10.18 billion through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) while the Chinese group was able to bring in $167.97 million or about P8.54 billion.

Guerrero said in the report

“It is not farfetched that the ease of bringing foreign currency in our territory can be taken advantage of by lawless elements such as terrorists.”

— Guerrero

that couriers travel almost twice or thrice a week, and carry about one to two pieces of luggage.

T hey escape detent ion be c au s e t h e y a r e e s c o r t e d b y members of the Phi lippine National Police, the A rmed Forces

Strong investor appetite still fuels BTr auction

T

HE Treasury bills auction on Monday was marked with strong investor appetite, prompting the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) to not just fully award the debt papers but also upsize its 364-day T-bill issuance.

With total bids reaching P60.4 billion, the auction was oversubscribed by more than thrice the P23.2-billion offering. This is higher than the initial offering of P20 billion.

Due to strong demand for the 364-day debt paper, the auction committee decided to increase noncompetitive bid acceptance from P3.2 billion to P6.4 billion.

As a result, the BTr was able to award a total of P11.2 billion at an average auction rate of 3.684 per-

cent, a decline of 10.3 basis points from the previous 3.787 percent.

Tenders for the security amounted to P33.06 billion.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters following the auction that the market is still on a wait-and-see mode amid lingering concern on the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19).

“We still see that the market continues to be liquid and we also expect the rates even for tomorrow’s auction would possibly also be much, hopefully, lower than the current secondary trading levels,” de Leon said.

The BTr is scheduled to hold its auction today, Tuesday, for the reissued five-year Treasury bonds worth P30 billion on offer.

“ T he n a r r at ive cont i nues because of the lingering adverse impact of the virus outbreak and, of course, we also have the assurance of the [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] governor that policy easing would continue to be able to support and stimulate the economy, the possibility of additional policy cuts and probably even more than the 50 basis points that he has committed before; so all these provided the push to the market in terms of the monetary stance continuing to be accommodating, and there’s still enough liquidity. Of course, everything is still on a wait-and-see mode also on the impact now that effects of coronavirus continue to expand,” she added.

Meanwhile, the auction com-

mittee also awarded the 182-day T-bill worth P6 billion on offer at an average auction rate of 3.324 percent, lower by 4.1 basis points from 3.365 percent previously. Total bids for the debt paper reached P14.498 billion.

As for the 91-day T-bill, the BTr decided to award the security worth P6 billion on offer at a higher average auction rate of 3.013 percent, 1.0 basis point higher than the previous average auction rate of 3.003 percent. Tenders for the security amounted to P12.813 billion.

In terms of the offshore bond issuances, de Leon said they still continue to monitor market developments, but pointed out there has been no new issuance so far for the US dollar market. Bernadette D. Nicolas

Tourism. . .

Continued from A1

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING EXTREME NORTHERN LUZON as of 4:00 pm - March 2, 2020

We count on the same enduring qualities to get us through the challenges this year,” she stressed.

Based on the total foreign visitor arrivals last year, this means each international tourist in the Philippines spent an average of $1,135.37, or some P59,000.

Puyat noted that each guest spent an average of $128.35 of P6,649 per day, while the average per-capita expenditure spend is about $1,218.04 or P63,095 if he stayed 9.49 nights, the average length of stay of tourists last year, per data from the DOT Office of Tourism Development Planning, Research and Information Management.

South Korea continued to be the top spender among key tourism markets of the Philippines, at $2.61 billion (P135 billion), up 8.75 percent from 2018. It was followed by tourists from mainland China who spent $2.33 billion (P120.7 billion), up 11 percent from 2018.

However, other top markets, like those from North America, Europe and Southeast Asia, posted much larger increases in spending in 2019.

While in third place, tourists from the United States, for instance, spent $1.21 billion (P62.7 billion) last year—an increase of 54.7 percent from their spending in 2018.

Among the other top spenders, tourists from Germany recorded the largest increase in expenditure at 69.31 percent to $131.61 million (P6.82 billion). The United Kingdom likewise posted a huge 61-percent increase in spending to $236.06 million (P12.23 billion). Malaysia saw a 45.81-percent increase in tourism spending in the Philippines, to $115.86 million (P6 billion).

Tourists from Canada spent $273.06 million (P14.14 billion) in 2019, a 36-percent increase from their spending in 2018. Australia also recorded a huge increase in tourism expenditures here at 26.2 percent to $271.43 million (P14.06 billion).

Japan was in fourth place among top spenders in 2019, but managed to eke out only a 10.42-percent increase to $467.14 million (P24.2 billion).

Of all the top source markets for tourists, only Taiwan recorded a decrease in spending by 8.08 percent to $252.10 million (P13.06 billion).

The DOT said, visitor spending grew by the double-digits from February to December 2019, with August posting the highest increase at 31.45 percent to $794.05 million (P41.13 billion). But the largest earnings by the tourism sector was recorded in the month of December at $872.13 million (P45.18 billion).

of t he Phi l ippines, or of t he a ir por t pol ice depa r t ment at t he Ma ni l a Inter nat iona l A irpor t Aut hor it y.

This has prompted Dominguez to order the BOC to closely coordinate with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in investigating attempts by suspected syndicates to bring in large sums of foreign currency into the country.

“A larmed by the foregoing circumstances, considering the apparent intent of the said groups to bypass the country’s banking system and its prevailing

regulations, this Bureau coordinated with and brought the matter to the atttention of the AMLC. Since then, this Bureau and the AMLC remain in close communication regarding this concern. T he NIC A was likewise apprised of the said facts,” Guerrero said in his report to Dominguez.

Besides several groups, certain individuals attempted to sneak in large amounts of US dollars and other foreign currency into the country using travelers arriving at Naia.

See “Courier,” A2

ERRATIC WEATHER SEEN CUTTING SUGAR OUTPUT FOR CROP YEAR 2019-2020

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

T

HE country’s raw sugar output could fall to 2.025 million metric tons (MMT), the lowest level in nearly a decade, as El Niño and rains battered plantations in key sugarproducing areas in the Philippines.

Erratic weather has been the Achilles heel of the sugar sector in recent years. Sugar output declined for two consecutive crop years (CY) after the Philippines produced a record-high 2.5 MMT in CY 2016-2017.

Based on government documents obtained by the BusinessMirror, latest Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) forecast indicated that sugar output in CY 2019-2020 may be slightly lower from the previous crop year’s 2.072 MMT. The projected output is the lowest since CY 2009-2010, when it fell to 1.97 MMT due to the ill effects of El Niño, based on historical data from the SRA. Industry stakeholders attributed the possible decline in the current CY’s output to adverse weather conditions and the contraction in lands planted with sugarcane. Latest SRA figures showed that total sugarcane areas is at 406,490 hectares, slightly lower than the previous crop year’s 409,714 hectares.

SRA Administrator Hermenegildo R. Serafica refused to comment on the latest sugar production forecast, but said the country has ample supply to cover domestic demand, including carry-over imported stocks.

“SRA is monitoring the actual sugar supply along with projected production and demand. There is enough supply to cover demand,” Serafica said via SMS. “We have already done our importation early on to ensure enough supply and, on top of that, there is also sugar from the replenishment program under Sugar Order 4 and 4-A,” he added.

Government and industry sources told the BusinessMirror that officials and stakeholders assessed the latest forecast, and discussed the current sugar supply and demand situation.

“It’s variable. It’s just an estimate that can go lower or higher. But it may be helpful in the formulation of sugar policies,” SRA Board Member Roland B. Beltran told the BusinessMirror.

Millers’ estimates The Philippine Sugar Millers Association (PSMA) agrees with the government’s estimates, saying that higher cane production will offset lower sugar recovery.

Based on latest SRA forecast, total sugarcane milled in CY 2019-2020 ending August 31, will reach 21.75 MMT, nearly flat from last year’s 21.744 MMT. However, sugar milling recovery would fall to 1.86 50-kilogram bags per ton cane (LKg/TC) from the previ-

ous crop year’s 1.91 LKg/TC. Raw sugar output in Negros, top producer of the sweetener, is estimated to decline by 1.15 percent to 1.288 MMT, from 1.303 MMT. Sugar production in Luzon may decline by nearly 15 percent to 180,650 MT while output in Mindanao is projected to go down by almost 3 percent to 399,217 MT. Eastern Visayas’s raw sugar production is expected to rise by 4 percent to 46,742 metric tons while output in Panay may reach 136,547 MT, 3.04 percent higher than the 132,515 MT it produced in the previous crop year. “[Production] is almost flat. We hope we could recover with the help of increased tonnage. Although our LKG/TC is down our tonnage is up, so we might hit that [projected volume],” PSMA Executive Director Jesus L. Barrera told the BusinessMirror.

“For PSMA, our production [forecast] might be similar to that of SRA’s 2.025 MMT. We suffered more rainfall during harvest and drier conditions during planting, which affected our production,” Barrera added.

The government was forced to import 250,000 MT of refined sugar last year to augment domestic supply as local output was insufficient to meet domestic demand, particularly that of industrial users like food exporters and beverage makers. Some 170,000 MT of imported refined sugar are still in local warehouses, per SRA data.

The government does not have an estimate for the country’s total sugar requirement but foreign agencies like the United States Department of Agriculture pegged Philippine consumption at around 2.3 MMT, while some industry players said it is at 2.5 MMT.

Headwinds H owever, industry players and sources familiar with developments on the ground told the BusinessMirror that local sugar production may be lower than 2.025 MMT. The country’s raw sugar output as of February 23 is at 1.208 MMT, down by 12 percent from the 1.374 MMT recorded in the same period last year, based on the latest SRA figures obtained by the BusinessMirror.

“Currently weather is way too wet.

[Output] will be down this year,” said an industry player.

Another industry player estimated that total output in the current crop year could decline by an annual rate of 8 percent to 10 percent, as El Niño delayed planting.

Nonetheless, industry sources said there have been no dramatic spikes in sugar demand due to the slowdown in economic activities, which they attributed to the impact of Covid-19.

As of February 23, raw sugar demand is down 8 percent to 823,964 MT from last year’s 895,906.69 MT while demand for refined sugar declined by 13.35 percent to 514,434.55 MT, SRA data showed.

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Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE NCR Regional Office located at 967 Maligaya St., Malate, Manila, within 30 days after its publication.

Please inform DOLE NCR if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

B1

SM Prime Holdings sets price for ₧20-B bond issue

SC denies favoring firm in Iloilo power distribution tussle

M Prime Holdings Inc. on Monday set a price for five-year and seven-year bonds it will issue to raise P20 billion, the rates of which were slightly higher than secondary market rates.

T

S

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

further integrated property developments in various developing provincial cities in the Philippines.

The proceeds from the retail bond will enable the company to pursue it expansions plans for its core businesses, primarily of its malls projects, which is one of the main growth drivers of the Company,” SM Prime President Jeffrey C. Lim said in a statement.

This series of SM Prime bonds due on 2025 and 2027 is the seventh offering of peso-denominated retail bonds to the public.

BDO Capital and Investment Corp. and China Bank Capital Corp. were both assigned as joint issue managers, and also acted as joint lead underwriters and joint bookrunners together with BPI Capital Corp., EastWest Banking Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., RCBC Capital Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp.

SM Prime earlier said its net in-

come last year grew 18 percent to P38.1 billion in 2019, from P32.2 billion in 2018 still on higher income of its core business.

Consolidated revenues rose 14 percent to P118.3 billion from P104.1 billion in the previous year, while consolidated operating income went up 17 percent to P56.7 billion, from the previous P48.3 billion.

“We look forward to 2020 as we strengthen our presence in more key areas in the Philippines through sustainable integrated property developments that have great potential to further contribute to the growth of the overall economy,” said Lim. The company’s Philippine mall business recorded an 8 percent increase in revenues to P57.8 billion for the entire 2019 from P53.5 billion in 2018. This was mainly driven by the 7 percent same-mall-sales growth across all mature malls.

The country’s largest property developer, which is known for its shopping mall operations, has pegged at 4.8643 percent per year the interest rate for its Series K five-year bonds.

The figure is higher than the current rate of 4.117 percent for debt papers with the same tenor.

For the Series L seven-year debt paper, the company placed the yield at 5.0583 percent, which is also high-

er than the 4.249 percent for bonds with the same tenor.

The company is offering a total of P20 billion in fixed-rate bonds. The said offering is part of the P100-billion shelf registration that the company submitted with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bonds are set to be issued on March 25.

“SM Prime is set to establish

‘NBOSS to cut biz registration process’

Nestlé Philippines relaxes coffee procurement norms

T

he Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said on Monday that its has aided the government’s push for the implementation of the Ease of Doing Business Act through the deployment of one-stop shop in Metro Manila.

The first National Business One Stop Shop (NBOSS), located at the Philippine International Convention Center, cuts down the process of business registration from 33 days to seven-and-a-half days by reducing the steps from 13 to nine.

“With NBOSS, it is easier to become an entrepreneur. It allows business registrants to save time, while removing complicated process and eradicating the fixers,” ICT Secretary Gergorio B. Honasan III said in a statement.

NBOSS allows applicants to submit documents, and avail of other online services. It hosts key agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Social Security System (SSS), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) and the Home Development Mutual Fund (PagIbig Fund).

Anti-Red Tape Authority Director General Jeremiah B. Belgica noted that the facility “links” the various government agencies, thereby streamlining business registrations through a “whole of government approach.”

“Very soon we could really see that things are just going to get better and better,” Belgica said.

ARTA and DICT signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the creation of the NBOSS in October 2019. It was signed by Honasan and ARTA Deputy Director General Ernesto Perez and DICT Director Aida Yuvienco.

The NBOSS would be the co-location and integration or linkage of the application processes for registering businesses. Further, DICT describes it as the physical center where applicants can register their business and avail of the services of the Central Business Portal. Lorenz S. Marasigan

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

he Supreme Court on Monday denied insinuations that it is being biased against Panay Electric Co. (PECO)’s legal battle with More Electric and Power Corp.

(MORE) over the power distribution business in Iloilo City.

“The Supreme Court is composed of 15 justices, and its actions are based on the majority vote of the members en banc or of a division. As I said before in previous interviews, decisions of the Supreme Court are always founded on facts, applicable laws, and current jurisprudence,” said SC spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka.

“That is how the Supreme Court acts as mandated by our Constitution, and that is why it will always be objective and independent. In the meantime, let us wait for the final resolution of the pending cases,” Hosaka added.

Hosaka’s statement came after Abang Partylist Rep. Joseph Paduano called on President Duterte to intervene in the MORE Power versus PECO case citing the supposed bias of the SC toward the former on the issue.

The Court recently denied the plea of PECO to transfer the venue of the expropriation case filed by the new distribution utility against it before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Iloilo City.

PECO also sought as an alternative to consolidate the expropriation case then pending with the RTC of Mandaluyong City questioning the constitutionality of the expropriation powers given to the new utility

by Congress, but this too was denied by the Court in its recently issued resolution.

The SC did not give credence to PECO’s argument that public scrutiny could affect the judge who handled the expropriation proceedings.

It held that the premise was not valid as “the mere possibility of

prejudice is not sufficient to justify a transfer of venue, as aptly argued by respondent MORE.” Paduano cited the “unusual” inhibitions by four RTC judges in the franchise-related expropriation case.

The Razon-led MORE earlier announced that it has completely taken over the distribution assets of PECO following the issuance of a writ of possession by Iloilo City RTC Judge Emerald Requina-Contreras.

The judge granted the writ to MORE under the expropriation case it filed against PECO on March 11, 2019.

MORE said it is ready to submit to the Iloilo City RTC its program for the complete takeover of the distribution facilities in the city, including the timelines on the transition period, accounting, turnover of records like the list of consumers, and documents relevant to the operation of the distribution system such as the inventory of personal properties under and inventory of real properties already under its possession.

MORE started the process of taking over PECO’s electricity distribution facilities after securing the 15-year franchise from Congress in 2019. PECO’s franchise expired on January 19, 2019 after failing to secure an extension from Congress.

Under Republic Act 11212 signed on February 14, 2019 by President Duterte, MORE was authorized to take over all distribution assets and other properties whether private or government-owned so it can distribute electricity in Iloilo City.

MORE filed the expropriation case after securing its congressional franchise to distribute power in Iloilo City via RA 11212. Sections 10 and 17 of the law granted MORE as the new distribution utility in Iloilo City the powers of eminent domain and to expropriate any asset, including existing distribution assets in the city.

MORE had secured the franchise after both chambers of Congress ignored PECO’s application to renew its franchise.

Meralco bans smoking, asks workers to kick habit

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

This BusinessMirror file photo shows former bodyguard turned coffee farmer Benrose Subasco tending to his coffee farm in Sitio Blakol, Barangay Masiag, Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat. Subasco is a Nescafé Plan Coffee Ambassador who serves as a link between Nestlé and other farmers, inspiring them to adopt best practices in coffee farming.

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

N

estlé Philippines Inc. (Nestlé) on Monday said it has eased its procurement standards in its bid to increase the volume of coffee beans the multinational company buys from Filipino farmers.

However, executives of the multinational company made an assurance to consumers that relaxing its procurement standards will not compromise the quality of its coffee products.

Ma. Angela Primitiva A. Bautista, Nestlé Corporate Affairs Executive, said the company has reduced its moisture content requirement to 13 percent from 12 percent and removed some of parameters the company implemented before.

“So we made the standards easier for farmers so more could sell directly to us. This is part of our efforts to help farmers reduce production cost, as it will allow them to

sell faster,” Bautista told reporters in a news briefing.

Bautista said the company now checks only the presence of foreign matter and black and bean fragments in the coffee sold to them by farmers. Previously, the company rejected moldy beans and stinker beans.

Nestlé Vice President for Corporate Affairs Ruth P. Novales said the company hopes that the move will “inspire” farmers to plant more as this will enable them to increase their income.

“We are cognizant of the fact that the weather in the Philippines is wet and very wet. To tell the farmers that their beans should be dried well is too counterproductive and not inspiring,” Novales said.

“We have spread the standards to accommodate more without sacrificing the quality of finished product. We want to increase their yield. We will have nothing to buy if they cannot sell to us,” she added.

Novales disclosed that the

company is now having a difficult time sourcing local beans due to the detrimental effects of climate change to coffee production, which has been declining in recent years.

She revealed that the company is now planning to source robusta coffee beans in Luzon and Visayas to meet its demand. Nestlé buys about 60 percent of the country’s annual robusta coffee production.

Novales urged the government to put up strategic trading posts near coffee-producing provinces in Luzon and Mindanao where buyers like Nestlé could go and procure their requirements. Through trading posts, Novales said there would be economies of scale that will benefit both the farmers and the manufacturers.

“We would like to buy locally as far as we can where they are.

[We hope] the government can devise ways to encourage farmers to consolidate in specific areas so that buyers like us will go there,” she said.

T

he Manila Electric Co. has prohibited smoking in all Meralco facilities and premises, a move meant to further strengthen the company’s commitment for a healthier and more sustainable environment.

The ban, which took effect last March 1, includes vaping and using e-cigarettes.

Meralco said it has placed visible signage around all properties, including former designated smoking areas. Security representatives will be regularly inspecting the said areas as a reinforced compliance check, it said.

“While there is much spotlight put on the health benefits for the people, what is often overlooked is smoking’s impact on the environment,” said Meralco President and CEO Ray C. Espinosa.

The Meralco official said the smoking ban is aligned with the company’s recent push for sustainability and inclusivity. Last year, Meralco launched of its Sustainability Office (SO).

“With our recent emphasis on

sustainability, we look to safeguard and protect both Planet and People. Here at Meralco, we are developing and executing plans and programs to protect and preserve our environment, and to embed a sustainability mindset within our organization, ensuring that our employees not only understand Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance concepts but are also able to put these principles into practice,” said Espinosa.

Meralco also offers a Smoking Cessation Program for employees interested in quitting smoking, overseen by the company’s inter na l Cor porate Wel lness Center and its doctors.

“Campaigns like this smoking ban signal our ‘great leap’ into sustainability, and our Sustainability Office will lead and rally One Meralco on this very important effort,” Espinosa added.

Meralco’s smoking ban was implemented in line with Executive Order 26, entitled Providing for the Establishment of Smoke-Free Environments in Public and Enclosed Places issued

by President Duterte, as well as EO 106 prohibiting vaping and e-cigarettes in public.

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

March 2, 2020

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALs

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL IREMIT MEDCO HLDG NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH VANTAGE

49.95 132.1 75.45 24.85 11.02 55.1 11.8 28.25 50 19.68 158.7 57.35 0.79 17.86 1.03 0.385 0.72 167.3 1.15

50 133.5 75.5 24.95 11.22 55.25 12 28.6 50.9 20 158.8 58.3 0.84 18.3 1.09 0.4 0.75 171 1.2

49.5 138 75.5 25 11 56.1 12 28.65 50 19.68 154.6 57.05 0.84 17.82 1.02 0.4 0.75 172 1.19

50 138.4 76.25 25 11.2 57.45 12 28.65 51 19.7 160.7 58.4 0.84 18.4 1.02 0.4 0.75 172 1.19

49.5 132.1 74.1 24.75 10.9 55.1 12 27.9 49 19.68 154 57.05 0.8 17.82 1.02 0.385 0.75 167.1 1.15

50 132.1 75.5 24.85 11.02 55.1 12 28.25 50 19.68 158.8 57.35 0.8 18.3 1.02 0.4 0.75 167.3 1.15

33970 4384350 3773810 65700 513000 2556140 14700 192800 1770 819500 474010 13940 102000 2100 5000 250000 1000 1030 24000

1698275 592639803 284762537.5 1635330 5691026 143493882 176400 5456370 87920 16143444 75247489 801079 82800 37720 5100 98200 750 175457 27900

750000 -254679735 -62426476.5 -116160 -3210808 -78517433 -929805 -19684 -28361003 -26730 37678 12650

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 2.02 2.05 2.06 2.06 1.98 2.05 4353000 8,800,720( 1.08 1.09 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 406000 446600 ALSONS CONS 26.2 26.7 27.5 28.4 26.2 26.2 2562500 69133885 ABOITIZ POWER 0.207 0.212 0.208 0.213 0.206 0.213 150000 31010 BASIC ENERGY 17.66 17.9 18.34 18.34 17.4 17.66 2917700 51441412 FIRST GEN 60.1 60.6 61 61 60.05 60.6 51000 3075008.5 FIRST PHIL HLDG 257 257.2 265 266 257 257 558750 145822894 MERALCO 12 12.08 11.54 12.2 11.54 12 3481900 41849426 MANILA WATER 3.37 3.38 3.35 3.39 3.35 3.38 1290000 4343540 PETRON 10.12 10.38 10.42 10.42 10.12 10.24 259900 2660684 PHX PETROLEUM 26.15 26.2 26.75 26.75 26.1 26.2 299000 7853630 PILIPINAS SHELL 8.92 8.95 8.7 9.2 8.7 8.95 55600 492293 SPC POWER AGRINURTURE 6.85 7.1 7.23 7.23 6.89 7.1 2743400 19296554 AXELUM 2.42 2.47 2.65 2.65 2.34 2.42 8220000 20157720 CNTRL AZUCARERA 14.2 15.88 15 15.88 15 15.88 1300 19940 14.24 14.44 14.5 14.5 14.12 14.24 146600 2090956 CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE 3.8 4.17 4.06 4.2 4 4 36000 146070 DNL INDUS 7.38 7.42 7.5 7.5 7.3 7.42 2412300 17919564 EMPERADOR 8.01 8.03 8.05 8.05 8 8.02 1063300 8513148 SMC FOODANDBEV 71.15 71.9 69.3 72.95 69.3 71.9 109750 7880869.5 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.62 0.63 0.63 0.63 0.61 0.62 919000 568680 1.67 1.68 1.64 1.73 1.6 1.68 24996000 41484120 FRUITAS HLDG JOLLIBEE 167.1 168 169.9 172 165 167.1 990990 166602985 6.14 6.5 6.52 6.52 6.5 6.5 2100 13652 MACAY HLDG 8.6 8.63 8.77 8.85 8.6 8.6 166400 1444766 MAXS GROUP 0.151 0.159 0.151 0.151 0.151 0.151 500000 75500 MG HLDG 1.83 1.85 1.85 1.85 1.77 1.85 2658000 4895220 PEPSI COLA 8.1 8.3 8.5 8.58 8.02 8.1 127100 1034484 SHAKEYS PIZZA 1.56 1.59 1.54 1.6 1.54 1.59 110000 171220 ROXAS AND CO 5 5.1 5 5 5 5 9200 46000 RFM CORP 138.6 140.9 141.4 141.4 138.3 138.6 1401080 195224128 UNIV ROBINA 1.11 1.12 1.12 1.12 1.09 1.11 2282000 2516530 VITARICH 58.9 64.7 58.9 58.9 58.85 58.85 200 11775.5 CONCRETE A 1.27 1.29 1.37 1.37 1.26 1.27 13082000 16868900 CEMEX HLDG 2.6 5.25 4.8 5.27 4.8 5.26 5000 24930 DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT 10.5 11 10.5 10.52 10.3 10.5 58100 609932 EEI CORP 7.9 8 7.95 8 7.9 7.9 47500 376390 13.1 13.2 13.2 13.36 13 13.2 1199600 15827232 HOLCIM MEGAWIDE 12.12 12.28 12.5 12.5 12.14 12.28 2030900 25061448 PHINMA 9.32 9.8 9.8 9.8 9.8 9.8 1000 9800 0.83 0.85 0.82 0.85 0.82 0.84 28000 23070 TKC METALS 0.92 0.94 0.93 0.95 0.91 0.94 724000 670840 VULCAN INDL CHEMPHIL 185.1 220 224.8 224.8 224.8 224.8 10 2248 1.99 2.07 2 2.02 1.98 2.02 180000 360260 CROWN ASIA 3.77 3.78 4.09 4.2 3.45 3.77 21284000 82488370 EUROMED LMG CHEMICALS 4.8 5 5 5.3 4.8 4.8 242000 1204635 3.31 3.42 3.46 3.54 3.3 3.44 44000 152500 MABUHAY VINYL 4.68 4.75 4.73 4.73 4.7 4.7 1108000 5208540 PRYCE CORP 28.85 31.45 31.5 31.5 30 30 600 18450 CONCEPCION 1.25 1.28 1.29 1.33 1.25 1.28 997000 1272280 GREENERGY 4.69 4.76 4.92 4.96 4.53 4.69 588000 2794650 INTEGRATED MICR 1.13 1.15 1.18 1.18 1.12 1.14 118000 135900 IONICS 1.02 1.04 1.08 1.08 1 1.04 1230000 1246800 SFA SEMICON 6.82 6.85 6.7 6.9 6.27 6.82 990200 6492502 CIRTEK HLDG

1,002,069.9996) -42714365 -37176388 -1876479.5 -91968078 -5612702 1672200 -70622 -3983985 3579.9999 -589239 -3702040 227140 -25080 10076471 3983124 -773050 922240 -28436985 -787533 1853830 -472254 -79387101 662150 -2686740 101876 -5184636 -9177750 -6510 196510 24179.9997 -10290 36890 -356860 110000 -709

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.67 0.68 0.7 0.7 0.67 0.68 6002000 4092890 9.7 9.8 9.99 9.99 9.7 9.7 2100 20479 ASIABEST GROUP 649.5 653.5 662.5 678 642 649.5 988510 647461655 AYALA CORP 43 43.05 42.45 43.45 41 43.05 1679100 72040280 ABOITIZ EQUITY 9.92 9.93 9.93 9.98 9.91 9.92 10854000 107741970 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 2 2.03 2.01 2.07 1.95 2 3926000 7961960 AYALA LAND LOG 6.1 6.38 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 25000 152500 ANSCOR 0.65 0.67 0.65 0.65 0.65 0.65 78000 50700 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.88 0.89 0.88 0.9 0.86 0.89 470000 412280 ATN HLDG A 6.2 6.22 6.24 6.24 6.15 6.2 927500 5762059 COSCO CAPITAL 5.3 5.31 5.28 5.36 5.1 5.31 12730900 66965040 DMCI HLDG 11.6 12 12 12.7 12 12.64 8200 99372 FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC 0.22 0.235 0.218 0.219 0.218 0.219 30000 6560 721.5 723 711 740 705 721.5 98180 70760840 GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV 4.5 4.59 4.59 4.59 4.59 4.59 4000 18360 JG SUMMIT 66.5 66.6 66.4 68.5 66 66.5 2999900 200511060.5 KEPPEL HLDG B 5.52 6.3 5.52 5.52 5.52 5.52 200 1104 0.46 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.46 0.46 180000 83900 LODESTAR 3.7 3.71 3.7 3.84 3.7 3.71 372000 1381490 LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP 9.22 9.25 8.8 9.33 8.8 9.25 1818700 16684575 MABUHAY HLDG 0.55 0.59 0.58 0.58 0.58 0.58 127000 73660 3.2 3.21 3.09 3.29 3.09 3.2 40596000 129651080 METRO PAC INV PACIFICA HLDG 4 4.1 4 4.1 4 4.1 2000 8100 1.01 1.05 1.03 1.03 1.01 1.01 92000 92950 PRIME MEDIA 2.58 2.95 2.62 2.62 2.62 2.62 30000 78600 REPUBLIC GLASS 0.9 1.08 1 1.01 0.9 0.9 77000 76720 SOLID GROUP 155 169 151 165 150 165 130 19820 SYNERGY GRID 960 970 965 989.5 950 960 511230 494618985 SM INVESTMENTS 125.5 128 126.2 128 124.6 128 187800 23953890 SAN MIGUEL CORP 0.86 0.87 0.83 0.92 0.82 0.86 1368000 1188640 SOC RESOURCES 140 150 151 151 150 150 2080 313320 TOP FRONTIER 0.223 0.226 0.219 0.221 0.219 0.22 360000 79190 WELLEX INDUS 0.174 0.182 0.174 0.182 0.173 0.182 360000 62570 ZEUS HLDG

34500 -129524540 -37745805 -1512321 -327900 122000 1781133 -23946032 -8402 3354800 -18360 -55766546.5 -920150 -2360958 -25144050 20200 -4600 -192006370 11364464 -193280 32870

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.74 0.76 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 610000 457500 8.8 9.37 8.9 8.9 8.78 8.78 300 2646 ANCHOR LAND 39.8 39.85 38.9 40.1 38.5 39.8 10917800 434633975 AYALA LAND 1.5 1.69 1.5 1.69 1.5 1.69 18000 29850 ARANETA PROP 1.56 1.57 1.54 1.57 1.5 1.56 2352000 3640870 BELLE CORP 0.55 0.56 0.56 0.56 0.55 0.56 402000 224000 A BROWN 0.78 0.79 0.77 0.78 0.77 0.78 68000 53020 CITYLAND DEVT 0.16 0.161 0.164 0.164 0.16 0.161 1920000 312230 CROWN EQUITIES 6.1 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 500 3200 CEBU HLDG 4.45 4.49 4.5 4.55 4.49 4.49 78000 352100 CEB LANDMASTERS 0.475 0.485 0.475 0.485 0.47 0.485 1270000 605500 CENTURY PROP 0.305 0.33 0.325 0.325 0.32 0.32 1040000 333300 CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON 16.9 16.94 17.1 17.1 16.6 16.94 350600 5917144 DM WENCESLAO 8.7 8.9 8.95 8.95 8.7 8.7 41700 368986 EMPIRE EAST 0.365 0.37 0.37 0.37 0.37 0.37 160000 59200 1.24 1.25 1.23 1.24 1.21 1.24 9100000 11209650 FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE 0.98 0.99 1.02 1.02 0.97 1 29000 28580 8990 HLDG 14.16 14.22 14 14.2 14 14.16 1740500 24691310 PHIL INFRADEV 0.94 0.96 0.96 0.96 0.9 0.94 1293000 1204720 KEPPEL PROP 3.55 3.6 3.66 3.66 3.6 3.6 35000 126650 0.71 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 0.77 2000 1540 CITY AND LAND 3.5 3.52 3.4 3.62 3.4 3.5 29400000 103088290 MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED 0.18 0.182 0.182 0.184 0.18 0.18 5490000 993530 0.41 0.43 0.41 0.435 0.41 0.41 440000 182000 PHIL ESTATES 2.05 2.06 2.09 2.09 2.04 2.05 684000 1400380 PRIMEX CORP 21.7 21.75 21.6 22.75 21.5 21.75 2902800 63960730 ROBINSONS LAND 0.27 0.285 0.285 0.285 0.265 0.27 1750000 475600 PHIL REALTY 1.91 2 1.92 1.92 1.91 1.91 76000 145230 ROCKWELL 3.02 3.09 3.02 3.04 3.02 3.02 82000 247680 SHANG PROP 2.34 2.35 2.3 2.36 2.29 2.34 401000 925190 STA LUCIA LAND 38.7 39 38.1 39.4 38 38.7 12293900 476052830 SM PRIME HLDG 4.01 4.95 4.95 4.95 4.9 4.95 24000 118180 VISTAMALLS 1.53 1.54 1.56 1.56 1.51 1.53 2383000 3640220 SUNTRUST HOME 6.25 6.58 6.2 6.58 6.01 6.58 1931300 12336608 VISTA LAND

-123083040 -1210600 23520 46670 9400 108800 -77908 -44546 -6548390 -4850 -1769386 71100 15027740 -257645 -34026570 -5058734

SERVICES ABS CBN 23.5 23.85 22.55 24.15 20.65 23.5 2240400 51192475 5.25 5.26 5.27 5.29 5.21 5.26 439300 2310616 GMA NETWORK 0.46 0.465 0.485 0.52 0.45 0.46 6440000 2991950 MANILA BULLETIN 1800 1809 1780 1829 1742 1800 83045 148527710 GLOBE TELECOM 982.5 993 980 1009 976 982.5 84890 84009405 PLDT 0.043 0.045 0.043 0.045 0.042 0.045 6500000 281700 APOLLO GLOBAL 3.9 3.99 3.97 4.09 3.66 3.99 235000 931020 DFNN INC 1.08 1.73 1.53 1.53 1.53 1.53 1000 1530 IMPERIAL 0.095 0.096 0.096 0.096 0.096 0.096 10000 960 ISLAND INFO 1.53 1.54 1.6 1.63 1.51 1.54 19043000 29865950 ISM COMM 1.92 1.93 1.91 1.98 1.91 1.92 765000 1482290 NOW CORP 0.212 0.218 0.211 0.22 0.21 0.211 960000 204050 TRANSPACIFIC BR PHILWEB 2.36 2.4 2.38 2.44 2.3 2.36 1234000 2906550 7.3 7.32 7.38 7.4 7.32 7.32 19400 142910 2GO GROUP 17.5 18.48 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 215800 3776500 ASIAN TERMINALS CHELSEA 3.32 3.39 3.55 3.55 3.25 3.39 653000 2190580 73.2 74 73 76.45 72.65 73.2 137960 10214146 CEBU AIR INTL CONTAINER 106 106.2 104.5 108.9 104.4 106 1843960 195666637 LBC EXPRESS 12 12.56 12.6 12.6 12.6 12.6 100 1260 8.26 8.3 8.4 8.4 7.96 8.3 3728300 30408242 MACROASIA METROALLIANCE A 2.13 2.14 1.8 2.48 1.79 2.13 55423000 122761370 2.13 2.14 1.87 2.5 1.87 2.13 2074000 4671820 METROALLIANCE B PAL HLDG 6.5 6.6 6.9 6.9 6.5 6.6 39900 260382 0.98 1 1.02 1.02 0.95 1 1822000 1785820 HARBOR STAR 1.37 1.43 1.33 1.43 1.33 1.43 3000 4190 ACESITE HOTEL 0.036 0.037 0.038 0.038 0.036 0.037 15100000 552700 BOULEVARD HLDG 1.9 1.94 1.94 1.94 1.79 1.94 3000 5670 DISCOVERY WORLD 10.02 12.82 13.46 13.46 13.46 13.46 100 1346 GRAND PLAZA 0.53 0.54 0.53 0.54 0.52 0.53 1075000 569710 WATERFRONT 7.12 8.38 7.9 8.48 7.5 8.39 27600 209547 IPEOPLE 0.53 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.53 0.54 430000 231380 STI HLDG 2.48 2.5 2.49 2.5 2.48 2.5 192000 478340 BERJAYA 8 8.02 8.1 8.1 7.91 8.02 2003300 16070351 BLOOMBERRY 1.92 1.96 1.88 1.96 1.87 1.96 42000 80490 PACIFIC ONLINE 1.91 1.92 1.9 1.95 1.9 1.92 68000 130690 LEISURE AND RES MANILA JOCKEY 2.94 3 2.93 2.93 2.93 2.93 2000 5860 3.43 4.7 4 4.7 3.9 4.7 90000 393810 PH RESORTS GRP 0.51 0.52 0.52 0.53 0.51 0.52 47564000 24666780 PREMIUM LEISURE PHIL RACING 8 8.92 8.94 8.94 8 8 918600 7349082 9.45 9.93 9.3 9.93 9.21 9.93 1487900 14318729 ALLHOME METRO RETAIL 1.63 1.65 1.58 1.78 1.58 1.65 1062000 1709270 PUREGOLD 36.6 37 36 37.2 35.6 36.6 296500 10839460 ROBINSONS RTL 64.4 65 66.6 66.6 63.3 65 248380 16048915 PHIL SEVEN CORP 155 158 155 155 152 155 716310 108926970 SSI GROUP 1.87 1.88 1.99 1.99 1.86 1.88 1634000 3087780 WILCON DEPOT 18.1 18.12 18.1 18.4 18.08 18.1 1646600 29849902 0.385 0.395 0.4 0.4 0.37 0.395 4990000 1926150 APC GROUP 6.3 6.96 6.52 6.6 6.34 6.34 33300 214325 EASYCALL 403.2 425 404.2 429.6 403.2 410 78020 32494186 GOLDEN BRIA 0.265 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.26 0.27 1830000 489100 PRMIERE HORIZON 8.65 8.8 8.9 8.9 8.65 8.65 12200 105570 SBS PHIL CORP

-52918815 -15882130 842840 -11760 1232000 -690465.5 -57752479 -6259483 -155780 149800 -5555928 -19010 -826040 -4139133 -315540 -4179610 -2211535.5 401030 -972050 16727098 -212000 -10600 -

MINING & OIL ATOK 10.96 11.36 11.48 11.48 11.48 11.48 200 2296 0.98 1.01 0.99 1 0.95 0.98 3452000 3342830 APEX MINING 0.0012 0.0013 0.0012 0.0013 0.0012 0.0013 189000000 230800 ABRA MINING 2.3 2.39 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 20000 46000 ATLAS MINING 1.15 1.23 1.15 1.15 1.15 1.15 29000 33350 BENGUET A 0.27 0.275 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 150000 40500 COAL ASIA HLDG 2.69 2.8 2.76 2.76 2.69 2.69 1958000 5348360 41250 CENTURY PEAK 6.5 6.51 6.44 6.58 6.38 6.5 3900 25319 DIZON MINES 0.94 0.95 0.98 1.04 0.9 0.94 17532000 17014780 -10424170 FERRONICKEL 0.196 0.198 0.196 0.2 0.196 0.198 90000 17730 GEOGRACE 0.09 0.092 0.092 0.092 0.092 0.092 10000 920 LEPANTO A LEPANTO B 0.09 0.094 0.094 0.094 0.094 0.094 10000 940 0.65 0.66 0.67 0.67 0.64 0.66 66000 42550 MARCVENTURES 0.9 0.94 0.92 0.93 0.9 0.93 525000 477070 NIHAO 2.1 2.18 2.18 2.21 2.06 2.18 19140000 40640840 -21884880 NICKEL ASIA ORNTL PENINSULA 0.61 0.62 0.59 0.62 0.59 0.62 60000 35920 2.8 2.85 2.8 2.85 2.78 2.8 867000 2434280 8400 PX MINING SEMIRARA MINING 19.12 19.14 19.5 19.6 18.9 19.14 3172700 60820592 -15208280 ACE ENEXOR 6.27 6.4 6.5 6.5 6.27 6.27 85700 541220 -60459 ORNTL PETROL A 0.0093 0.0096 0.0094 0.0094 0.0093 0.0093 4000000 37300 0.0094 0.01 0.011 0.011 0.0094 0.0094 600000 5910 ORNTL PETROL B 0.0099 0.01 0.01 0.011 0.0099 0.0099 215600000 2159500 10000 PHILODRILL 6.06 6.15 6.36 6.36 5.8 6.15 1279300 7644155 -212284 PXP ENERGY

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A 99 99.5 99 99.1 99 99.1 7670 759380 500 504 501 501 500 500 6000 3001205 AC PREF B1 103 107.9 107.9 107.9 107.9 107.9 20 2158 ALCO PREF C 502 503 503 503 502 502 510 256030 AC PREF B2R 101.3 103 101.2 101.3 101.2 101.3 1000 101250 CPG PREF A 101 103 101 102 101 101 50690 5139260 15150 DD PREF 107.1 108.2 107 107 107 107 20 2140 FGEN PREF G 502 503 502 502 502 502 250 125500 GLO PREF P 997 999 998 998 997 997 580 578460 GTCAP PREF A 982 1000 982 982 982 982 110 108020 GTCAP PREF B 99.95 100 100 100 100 100 34970 3497000 MWIDE PREF PNX PREF 3A 100.1 101.5 100.1 101.5 100.1 101.5 410 41601 1031 1035 1030 1030 1030 1030 100 103000 92700 PNX PREF 4 PCOR PREF 3B 1060 1110 1060 1060 1060 1060 100 106000 77.5 77.7 77.6 77.7 77.5 77.5 7310 566722.5 15500 SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D 75.1 75.6 75.1 75.1 75.05 75.05 36670 2752208.5 75.35 76 75.3 75.3 75.3 75.3 1420 106926 SMC PREF 2E 76.5 76.9 76.85 77.2 76.5 76.5 59890 4606238 SMC PREF 2F 75.4 76.4 76 76 76 76 25700 1953200 SMC PREF 2G 76 76.3 76 76 76 76 2000 152000 SMC PREF 2H 75.2 76.2 76.2 76.2 75 76.2 138410 10424947 SMC PREF 2I

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 18.6 18.7 19.12 19.12 18.38 18.6 1158600 21538056 -15798242 5.09 5.1 5.1 5.1 5.1 5.1 14000 71400 -71400 GMA HLDG PDR

WARRANTS LR WARRANT 1 1.04 1.04 1.04 1.04 1.04 32000 33280

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 2.5 2.54 2.5 2.55 2.35 2.5 335000 817900 8.01 8.1 8.35 8.35 8 8.01 110200 886610 KEPWEALTH 0.76 0.77 0.75 0.77 0.75 0.76 246000 187320 XURPAS

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS

FIRST METRO ETF 103 104 103.1 103.9 102.3 103 35130 3622957 10276

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Coal business pulls down SMPC net income in 2019

C

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

onsunji-led Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) reported Monday a 20-percent decline in its net income last year to P9.6 billion, from P12.1 billion in 2018, mainly due to the drop in the contribution of its coal business.

In a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, the coal business of SMPC booked profits of P7.4 billion, down by 23 percent from P9.7 billion in 2018.

The average selling price of coal per metric ton was down by 22 percent during the 12-month period.

However, this was mitigated by the record-high coal shipments.

Coal production last year hit a record high of 15.2 million MT, 17 percent up from 12.9 MMT the previous year. Coal sales also posted a record high shipment of 15.6 MMT, up 35 percent from the 11.6 MMT posted in the same period a year ago. The sales mix is 34 percent and

66 percent for domestic and export sales, respectively.

The company blamed the low offtake of Sem-Calaca Power Corp.’s (SCPC) 1 and 2 units, which underwent life extension program, for the decline in domestic coal sales.

LEP, explained the company earlier, is meant to maintain and upgrade operations of existing facilities beyond its traditional lifetime.

The program is also meant to limit environmental complications and financial risks.

Aside from coal, SMPC is also engaged in the power business under SCPC and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC).

SPPC: Deficiency claim absent in PSALM billing

T

he South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC) on Monday said the monthly billing statements sent by the Power Sector A ssets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) neither included nor substantiated the state firm’s deficiency claim amounting to P23.94 billion as of December 2019.

This as PSALM maintained that it transmitted monthly invoices to SPPC and sent a number of demand letters to the power arm of conglomerate San Miguel Corp.

“SPPC stands by its earlier statement that it has not received monthly billing statements from PSALM that indicate an alleged deficiency claim amounting to P23.94 billion,” SPPC said late Monday afternoon.

The company said what it receives from PSALM are monthly billing statements using its legal position on, and computation of, generation payments. These monthly billings, SPPC said, do not contain the so-called deficiency amount of P23.94 billion as claimed by PSALM. “SPPC only lear ned of the P23.94 billion alleged deficiency from news articles quoting PSALM,” the company said.

SPPC also maintained that it is not “delinquent” as claimed by PSALM. “To date, the company has already made P314.6 billion in payments, consisting of P73.9 billion in regular, fixed monthly payments and P240.7 billion in generation charges.”

PSALM said last Friday that it sent “many demand letters to SPPC over the past several years.”

These demand letters were dated August 9, 2019, September 3, 2018 and May 9, 2018.

SPPC and PSALM have a pending case in court concerning differences in computing generation payments.

While PSALM is basing generation payments on the Wholesale

Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices, SPPC believes that selling its capacity there would have put the company in violation of provisions of their contract approved

by Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and designed specifically to protect consumers from volatile and higher electricity prices in the WESM. Further, the power firm said the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals (CA) have already ruled that the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court has jurisdiction over the pending case between SPPC and PSALM on the computation of generation charges under the Ilijan power contract.

Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso earlier questioned the RTC’s jurisdiction over the case, saying powerrelated issues should be handled by the ERC not the lower court.

The Mandaluyong-RTC’s order of September 24, 2018, where it ruled that the lower court has jurisdiction over the case, was questioned by PSALM through a petition for certiorari that was filed with the CA. On August 23, 2019, the CA dismissed PSALM’s petition.

PSALM has filed a motion for reconsideration of the dismissal of its petition.

On September 28, 2015, the Mandaluyong RTC issued a writ of preliminary injunction prohibiting PSALM from terminating the IPPA Agreement while the case is pending.

PSALM questioned the injunction with the CA through a petition for certiorari only to be denied by the CA. PSALM appealed the CA decision to the Supreme Court.

Through a Resolution issued on March 4, 2019, the High Court denied the appeal because PSALM failed to sufficiently show that the Court of Appeals committed any reversible error in its decision. The SC’s Resolution became final and executory on August 5, 2019. Lenie Lectura

Core profits of SCPC dropped by an annual rate of 161 percent to negative P758 million from P1.2 billion.

SCPC owns and operates the 2x300-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Calaca, Batangas. The shutdown of SCPC’s two units impacted negatively on SMPC’s power segment.

SCPC’s gross generation was down by 54 percent to 1,519gigawatt hours (GWH) from 3,281 GWH year-onyear. Unit 1 and 2 underwent a life extension program in 2019.

Unit 1 was shut down on December 30, 2018, and was back online on September 2019 while Unit 2 was shut down on October 2019 to give way for its life extension program.

Moreover, during the time when Unit 2 was operational, its load was de-rated to 200MW because of some condenser issues.

Consequently, sales volume was down by 45 percent to 1,848GWH from 3,342 GWH year-on-year.

Composite average price of energy sold also went down by 8 percent.

mutual funds

It posted a gross energy sales revenue of P7 billion, 51 percent lower in 2019 than the P13.7 billion recorded in 2018.

Meanwhile, SLPGC’s core profits also recorded significant increase of 182 percent to P2.8 billion, from P1 billion year-on-year. SLPGC’s gross generation is up by an annual rate of 51 percent to 2,070 GWH, from 1,368GWH. Total plant availability is at 83 percent with a combined average load of 286MW. The 2019 performance of Unit 1 and 2 of SLPGC was better at 52 percent improvement in capacity factor.

SLPGC also benefited from the higher electricity spot market prices in 2019.

Volume of energy sold went up by 45 percent at 1,854GWH, from 1,279GWH year-on-year. Gross energy revenue went up by an annual rate of 61 percent to P8.1 billion, from P5 billion with the significant increase in volume sold and higher spot market prices.

March 2, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 221.21 -14.35% -4.02% -4.59% -12.18% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.1442 -27.36% -6.22% -6.61% -17.21% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.0777 -23.71% -8.24% -7.24% -16.33% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.7636 -17.14% n.a. n.a. -14.88% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.7484 -10.94% n.a. n.a. -11.88% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.6877 -13.22% -2.81% -4.27% -12.02% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,6 0.7381 -13.54% -6.78% n.a.

-13.53% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 90.32 -26.8% n.a. n.a. -12.59% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 44.4404 -12.28% -2.25% n.a. -13.34% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 468.82 -11.92% -2.77% -3.98% -12% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,8 0.9239 n.a. n.a. n.a. -10.31% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.1301 -11.79% -2.32% -3.08% -12.18% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 33.1741 -12.18% -1.4% -2.97% -12.46% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,1 0.8863 -11.92% n.a. n.a. -12.95% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 4.5302 -11.55% -1.54% -2.39% -13.27% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 756.28 -11.51% -1.58% -2.55% -13.28% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.7156 -20.28% -5.33% -6.35% -15.95% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.6298 -13.72% -2.19% -3.27% -13.76% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.8679 -11.74% -1.76% n.a. -13.28% United Fund, Inc. -a 3.2263 -10.71% 0.12% -1.37% -11.69% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 101.5079 -11.17% -0.92% -1.64% -13.21% ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$0.9535 -5.63% 1.73% -1.29% -7.28% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.3074 4.67% 6.23% n.a.

-5.17% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.4986 -11.69% -4.22% -5.18% -4.11% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.0397 -10.2% -3.38% -3.1% -6.48% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.4633 -5.14% -0.31% -3.35% -6.39% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,5 0.203 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-11.16% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.8743 -0.74% 0.91% -0.7% -4.52% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.5451 -1.18% -0.43% -1.93% -6.44% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 15.8614 -2.3% -0.62% -2.01% -6.48% -6.63% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 1.9849 -5.97% -0.99% -1.4% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.5334 -6.25% -0.5% -1.92% -8.55% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9505 -2.19% n.a. n.a.

-6.42% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d,2 0.8948 -7.14% n.a. n.a.

-10.2% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d,2 0.884 -8.15% n.a. n.a. -10.99% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.873 -8.55% -1.78% -3.44% -10.44% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03924 9.89% 3.57% 2.28% 2.64% -3.83% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -a $0.9981 1.07% 2.62% -0.11% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.8024 5.06% 5.34% 2.83% -2.77% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,7 $1.1213 5.16% 3.38% n.a.

-0.66% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 359.69 4.05% 2.78% 2.3% 0.53% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.91 2.48% 0.5% -0.52% 0.42% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.142 4.94% 5.16% 5.18% 0.82% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2437 4.45% 2.28% 1.87% 0.84% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.3721 6.59% 2.31% 1.42% 0.55% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.4143 12.5% 2.67% 0.95% 1.58% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.8046 6.23% 3.04% 1.41% 0.43% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 0.9777 7.46% 1.74% 0.3% 1.39% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1066 9.6% 4.48% 2.51% 1% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a

1.7108 8.72% 3.84% 2.01% 0.57% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $472.03 4.49% 2.71% 2.69% 0.81% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є221.03 2.84% 1.65% 1.28% 0.59% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2203 5.84% 3.15% 2.54% 1.09% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0259 3.6% 1.32% 1.2% 0.39% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -a $1.1192 6.49% 1.64% 0.16% 2.19% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.4651 10.82% 3.94% 3.01% 2.55% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0608626 5.67% 2.31% 1.87% 0.91% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.2804 11.88% 3.77% 2.99% 3.31% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 126.57 3.87% 2.98% 2.25% 0.63% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a,3 1.0322 2.89% n.a. n.a.

0.57% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a 1.262 6.23% 3.21% 1.76% 0.42% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.271 3.6% 2.95% 2.46% 0.51% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0404 1.99% n.a. n.a.

0.31% Feeder Fund Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,4 $0.96 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-3.03% a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

1 - Launch date is January 3, 2019. 2 - Launch date is January 28, 2019. 3 - Launch date is February 1, 2019. 4 - Launch date is November 15, 2019.

5 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 6 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.).

7 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019. 8 - Launch date is December 09, 2019.

"While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa. com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

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World Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

B3

BMW to livestream debut of new model after Geneva show called off

W

ith the annual Geneva car show canceled for the first time since the World War II era, automakers are going virtual in a bid to wow the hordes that would otherwise descend on the Swiss city to inspect the latest models up close.

BMW AG will livestream the debut of its i4 battery-car concept on Tuesday, while Mercedes-Benz’s popular E-Class sedan and Audi’s A3 sportback and all-electric E-Tron S will also be touted in digital displays.

Even as manufacturers have been pulling back from auto shows in recent years, the gatherings still attract media, suppliers and aficionados eager to run their hands over the latest upholstery or settle in behind the wheels of new vehicles.

Audi parent Volkswagen AG used last year’s Frankfurt event to unveil its ID.3 electric car, and to spread the

message that the world’s largest auto manufacturer was moving on after the diesel-cheating crisis and honing an image as a leader in the transition to battery powered-cars.

The Geneva showcase, which was scheduled to start this week, was called off due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus in Europe. Carmakers were forced into contingency planning, with online events emerging as a way to salvage part of their marketing efforts.

BMW was aiming to make a big splash for its i4, a car meant to help reassert the German company’s

momentum in electric vehicles. The group is sticking to the same program on Tuesday, albeit with a “digital press conference” by Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse, speaking from BMW’s Munich headquarters.

Even before being canceled, the Geneva show—a luxury-car expo that’s typically dominated by glitzy rides from the likes of Ferrari NV, Porsche and Mercedes’s AMG unit— was in danger of being overshadowed by industry woes.

The virus outbreak, which has depressed car sales in China and disrupted supplier lines, adds to the challenges. Trade wars and tariffs, and an economic slowdown sent sales into a tailspin last year in China, the world’s largest auto market and a key country for exports for the three big German manufacturers.

‘High risks’

At home, European automakers are saddled with tough emissions rules that have forced them to speed the expensive rollout of new electric vehicles. Then there’s the lingering

tension with the US over trade policy that could bring additional tariffs.

“The state of the global economy and the situation of the auto industry are marked by high risks,” Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, a researcher at the University of Saint Gallen, Switzerland, said before the auto show was called off.

Analysts have started to factor in the impact from the latest shock. RBC Capital Markets expects European auto production to drop as much as 4 percent this year, while LMC Automotive analysts have penciled in as much as a 4.4 percent global decline in auto sales in a worst-case scenario.

Stricter CO2 rules, the reluctance of diesel-car owners to trade in vehicles due to dropping residual values, and general macro uncertainty “cause us to remain cautious” on Europe, RBC analyst analyst Tom Narayan said.

Sneak preview

The broader uncertainties have made it even more crucial for automakers to cut through the gloom and

inspire car purchases.

Polestar, the luxury electriccar venture of Volvo Cars and its Chinese owner Geely Group, last week held a live video conference to draw attention to its Precept concept vehicle, in what was billed as a sneak preview ahead of Geneva.

The move generated media attention ahead of the formal event planned for Tuesday, when Polestar would likely have been crowded out by bigger carmakers, such as BMW and Daimler.

The i4, targeted for release in 2021, is built on a new platform that can underpin electric cars, hybrids or combustion vehicles. The flexible architecture will be used to make a battery version of the popular X3 SUV this year, as well as the futuristic iNext. It gives BMW a weapon to fight back against Tesla Inc. after the US upstart ate into its market share.

Lost allure

Audi’s E-tron S similarly is aimed at scaling up the VW premium unit’s Tesla-fighting capabilities as Elon

AT&T launches new online TV service as video customers fall

N

EW YORK—AT&T is launching a new Internet-delivered TV service on Monday as it struggles with a shrinking DirecTV satellite business.

The new service, AT&T TV, will have most of the same channels offered on DirecTV, but it’ll come over the Internet rather than a satellite dish. AT&T has been testing the service in 13 markets, and is now making it available to anyone.

AT&T will send subscribers an Android streaming-TV box to use the service. The free device will also come with Netflix and other streaming apps, the way Comcast’s X1 cable box does. Additional boxes cost $120.

The channel lineups and prices are comparable with what’s available from DirecTV, but AT&T TV doesn’t have NFL Sunday Ticket, a package of out-of-market football games.

The company is trying to adapt to the shift to streaming video, as subscribers to traditional cable and satellite TV services fall. In May, it’s launching HBO Max, a $15-a-month streaming service

customers after price increases. AT&T is now trying to downplay that service in favor of the new AT&T TV. Customers don’t need to be AT&T Internet or wireless customers to sign up, although there are discounted packages available. And the company is promoting the service by saying it won’t count against AT&T data caps.

By itself, AT&T TV starts at $50 a month for a year with a two-year contract. As with many traditional TV services, the promo rate expires after a year. Some packages also come with $8.50 fee for regional sports. AP

that will marry HBO shows with original programs, and TV shows and movies from WarnerMedia. AT&T also has an

online package that started as a cheaper service with fewer channels than a traditional bundle, but it is shedding

This file photo combo shows the AT&T logo on the side of a corporate office in Springfield, Ill (left), and a DirecTV satellite dish atop a home in Los Angeles.

AT&T is launching a new Internet-delivered TV service on Monday as it struggles with a shrinking DirecTV satellite business. The new service, AT&T TV, will have the same channels offered on DirecTV, but it’ll come over the Internet rather than a satellite dish. AT&T has been testing the service in about a dozen markets and is now making it available to anyone. AP

Japan electronics maker Sharp to make masks at display plant

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OKYO—Electronics maker Sharp Corp. said on Monday it will start making surgical masks, which are in high demand because of the virus outbreak, using a plant in central Japan that usually makes displays.

Sharp, owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn of Taiwan, said mask production at its Mie Prefecture plant will start by the end of this month, at 150,000 masks a day, rising to 500,000 a day.

Electronics displays are generally made in what are called “germ-free” plants for the sake of high quality. So small particles can’t get into the manufacturing process, making it a good place for facemask making.

Masks are hard to find on store shelves in many places. In Japan, long lines form outside some drug stores, even before they open.

Japanese have long worn facemasks to prevent spreading colds or alleviate allergies.

That practice has grown more widespread since the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus that causes the disease, known as COVID-19.

Shoppers have been clearing store shelves of other supplies seemingly directly unrelated to viruses, such as toilet paper and rice.

Sharp, based in Osaka, Japan, said in a statement it hoped to contribute to society by making the masks.

Their prices, sales channels and other details are still undecided, it said. AP

A man with a mask walk through torii gates at the Hie Shrine in Tokyo, on Sunday, March 1, 2020. The coronavirus has claimed its first victim in the United States as the number of cases shot up in Iran, Italy and South Korea, and the spreading outbreak shook the global economy. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Musk prepares to open a gigafactory near Berlin. The Mercedes-Benz EClass is a critical model for the carmaker in terms of global sales volumes and revenue per vehicle.

Manufacturers scouring their books for ways to cut costs and better target marketing had already scaled back spending on Geneva, and other industry events, which have subsequently lost some of their allure.

This year at Geneva, for example, VW had done away with hosting the evening reception it traditionally used to kick off the media days preceding the opening of the trade fair to the public.

This pressure is unlikely to ease anytime soon.

“The current economic weakness in important markets amplifies the cost pressure and the trend toward consolidation,” said Stefan Bratzel, a researcher at the Center of Automotive Management near Cologne, Germany. “Only a few automakers can stem the necessary investments in new technologies and business areas on their own.” Bloomberg News

Nokia CEO to step down after struggling to make 5G headway

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he chief executive of Nokia Oyj, Rajeev Suri, is stepping down after just over half a decade at the helm of the Finnish network company.

Suri will be replaced by Pekka Lundmark, the outgoing CEO of Fortum Oyj, according to a statement on Monday.

Suri, 52, has struggled during his tenure to gain a foothold in the all-important fifth-generation market. Because of the fierce competition facing Nokia, it has started to explore its strategic options, including potential asset sales or mergers, Bloomberg News reported last week, citing people close to the deliberations.

Nokia fell behind rivals Ericsson AB and China’s Huawei Technologies Co., just as the Finnish company was on the cusp of large-scale rollouts of its 5G mobile networks amid problems developing proprietary chipsets. As a result, Nokia was forced to buy more expensive alternatives, adding to its costs and eroding profits.

In October, Nokia angered investors when it suspended its dividend and cut its earnings guidance, wiping 23-percent off the share price in a single day. Over the past 12 months, the company has lost about a third of its market value.

Suri, who has been at Nokia for 25 years, became CEO after running the Nokia Siemens Networks joint venture. He will leave his current position on August 31, and continue to serve as an adviser to the Nokia Board until January 1, 2021, Nokia said.

In Lundmark, Nokia is getting a CEO who has “consistently delivered robust total shareholder returns, successfully renewed the company’s strategy, and positioned it to be a strong player in the transforming global energy sector,” the company said on Monday.

“He has a record of leadership and shareholder value creation at large business-to-business companies; deep experience in telecommunications networks, industrial digitization, and key markets, such as the United States and China; and a focus on strategic clarity, operational excellence and strong financial performance,” Risto Siilasmaa, Nokia’s board chairman, said in the statement. Bloomberg News

B4 Tuesday, March 3, 2020

SM Foundation Techvoc Scholars in Pasil, Cebu, graduate Miriam College, Lyceum of the Philippines win Oro Plato Masa Culinary competition

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IRIAM College emerged as the Grand Prize Winner of the Dessert Category while Lyceum of the Philippines Manila bagged the Grand Prize for the Savory Category in the recently concluded Oro, Plato, Masa Nationwide Culinary Competition at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall.

Guest of honor DEPED Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones, lauded the project and expressed her desire for more partners sponsors and partners to come in to support this competition in the future.

Joining Secretary Magtolis during the awards were DOT Asst. Sec. Verna Esmeralda

Buensuceso, DTC Chairman & CEO Ed Dames, Lenovo Country Manager Mike Ngan , ALC Media Group Vice President Marvin Estigoy and the board of judges.

Chaired by ASEAN Master Food Assessor Chef Ellen Rivera, the judges for the competition were Unilever Food Solutions Senior Sous Chef J. Brando Santos, Actor and Chef/Owner of Avenue 75 Sports Bar Jose Sarasola, Chef Greggie Mercado and DTC Promos Inc. President & COO, Marissa Ngan Dames.

Laptops, ovens, cooking equipment and other prizes were awarded to the following winners:

Franz Ansherina Maniti and Andrea Isabel Ereno of Miriam College , Lyza Andrea Cagalpin and Ma. Cheres Delos Santos of Lyceum of the Philippines Manila received the Grand Champion Prizes from DEPED Secretary Leonor Briones at the culinary competition . Joining them were, from left: ALC Media Group Vice President Marvin Estigoy, Lenovo Country Manager Mike Ngan, DOT Asst.Sec. Verna Esmeralda Buensuceso, DTC Chairman & CEO Ed Dames, Coach Gavin Russell, Jahziel Jeanne Leuterio, Chefs Ellen Rivera, Jose Sarasola,Greggie Mercado, J Brando Santos and DTC President Marissa Dames ORO, PLATO, MASA is a project of DTC Promos Inc

From Miriam College: Grand Prize Winner – Dessert Category, Franz Ansherina Maniti and Andrea Isabel Ereno, Coaches : Jahziel Jeanne V. Leuterio / Lawrence Erfe, From Lyceum of the Philippines Manila: Grand Prize Winner – Savory Category, Ma. Cheres Delos Santos and Lyza Andrea Cagalpin, Coach : Gavin Russell, Meanwhile, the other winners were: Dessert Category, First Runner Up – University of Santo Tomas, Represented by Aira Joy Victorino and Carylle Angela Lapitan, Coach: Reinald Andaya, Second Runner Up – STI PasayEDSA, Represented by Joenna Calixto and Danika Sarate, Coach: Roseshell Suico, Savory Category, First Runner Up – Advance Central College of Antique, Represented by Genie Q. Patanindagat and John Aaron Ponsaran, Coach: Mary Rose Gemma Rodriguez, Second Runner Up – Miriam College, Represented by Jamaica Marie Marcelo and Ma. Althea Nicole Supleo, Coach: Jahziel Jeanne Leuterio Oro, Plato Masa was presented by SM Supermalls in cooperation with the Department of Education, Department of Tourism through its Tourism Promotions Board, the Manila Bulletin, Metro Channel, Business Mirror, Unilever Food Solutions, LENOVO, Masflex and the City of Manila.

The Grand Winners won Lenovo laptops while other winners received Bamix Mixers from Focus Global, kitchen equipment and products from Unilever Food Solutions (UFS), Masflex, Oleo Fats and Sonlie.

Busines Mirror was media partner.

SITEL Baguio City celebrates 15 successful years

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N May of 2004, Sitel became the first global business process outsourcing (BPO) company to set up shop in Baguio City. The location was chosen as the starting point of what would become the company’s strong presence in North Luzon. Four sites later and going strong as the biggest private direct employer in Baguio, Sitel celebrates 15 years of business success and operational excellence in the City of Pines.

“Baguio has been incredibly good to us for the past 15 years and it still shows potential for further growth,” Haidee Enriquez, Chief People Officer - Sitel Philippines, Australia and New Zealand shared. “From just 35 employees in 2004, we have steadily increased to well over 5,000 within our four Baguio sites servicing a wide range of international and local clients. With our continued expansions, we have continued to provide employment opportunities and benefits that extend not just to our associates but also to their family members.

To commemorate 15 successful years in Baguio, Sitel launched “Baguio Kinse”

– a celebration of 15 years of amazing work, camaraderie and outstanding achievements.

Throughout 2019, the Sitel Baguio Barkada held a series of fun activities, recognition programs, community-building events, charity drives and more. The culminating event for the year-long commemoration held at year’s end was the Baguio KINSElebration.

Hosted by radio disc jockey Grasya Pantasya and local celebrity Marky Hora, the event brought together over 2,500 Sitel Baguio

associates for a fun-filled evening at the Melvin Jones Football Grounds.

The global customer experience company still has more plans for its Baguio operations.

In the years ahead, the company looks forward to strengthening its position even further in the City of Pines, providing more job opportunities and giving more people invaluable training and education through Sitel Academy and its partnerships with the Baguio academe.

From left: Sitel Baguio’s Strength Relay Team, recent Call Center Association of the Philippines Fitness Festival Champions; Ian Zafra, Vice President Operations, Sitel Philippines; Haidee Enriquez, Chief People Office, Sitel Philippines, Australia, New Zealand.

MGBX has a total occupant load of 4,812 pax which includes two meeting rooms with a total area of 289 sqm each with a 288 pax of maximum capacity per room, and a 2,754 sqm convention hall divisible into three rooms by operable panel doors that can cater to around 1,423 pax per hall.

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Furniture Finishing, Machining, Motorcycle Small Engine Servicing, and Shielded Metal Arc Welding. After a 10-month training, students undergo five months of On-the-Job Training to complete the course requirement.

Fr. Lamberto Paradiang of the Salesians of Don Bosco congratulated the graduated SM Foundation maintains over 4,000 techvoc scholars enrolled in various technical vocational training centers nationwide.

CITI SUPPORTS NATIONAL MICROINSURANCE FORUM , PROMOTES “VALUE CREATION THROUGH PARTNERSHIP AND COLLABORATION.” The Microinsurance MBA Association of the Philippines (MiMAP) also known as RIMANSI, with the support of Citi Foundation, held its annual National Microinsurance Forum at the Philippine International Convention Center. MiMAP Chairman Emeritus Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip (2nd from left) together with Citi Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed (rightmost) welcome guests and speakers including Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Managing Director of the Center for Learning and Inclusion Advocacy Pia Roman-Tayag (leftmost) and Department of Finance Assistant Secretary Ms. Teresa Habitan (2nd from right). The forum, attended by over 300 participants, is part of a capacity-building program that brings together key microinsurance stakeholders from all over the country to discuss the updates, issues and developments in the industry. Also discussed were opportunities for partnership and collaboration in product development, utilizing digital financial services, as well as promoting good governance practices

Downy honors Pia Wurtzbach, empowered Filipinas whose passion to make a difference will #Neverfade

Downy Philippines Assistant Brand Manager Zedrick Laqui, with Downy Never Fade Awardees Joy Wong, Atty. Kristine Yuzon-Chaves, Iza Calzado, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Pia Wurtzbach, Bianca Gonzalez-Intal, Kara David, Downy Philippines Country Commercial Leader Christina Vilalta and Regional Brand Communications for P&G Asia Fabric Care Rebecca Kan

Marriott Hotel unveils MGBX Convention Hall, the newest exhibitions & conference center in Manila

PANNING over 8,000 sqm of event space, the Marriott Grand Ballroom at Marriott Hotel Manila is a spectacular facility unlike any other.

Opened in 2015, the Marriott Grand Ballroom is home to 28 versatile meeting rooms, including the Philippines’ largest pillarless hotel ballroom with a capacity of 4,000 people in theater setup. It is today unparalleled in sheer size and functionality -- a massive complex equivalent to 20 basketball courts combined.

In 2020, the hotel will add more

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ORTY SM Technical-vocational scholars from Don Bosco TVET Center in Pasil, Cebu completed their 15 month-long training in Machining NC II and Automotive Servicing NC II. Don Bosco TVET Center in Pasil, Cebu City as part of the The Don Bosco - One TVET Philippines, Inc. a network of 18 TVET centers in the country.

The center in Pasil, Cebu offers courses in Automotive Servicing, Dressmaking,

capability with the launch of the MGBX Convention Hall, adding more than 3,300 sqm of additional event/exhibition space to the Marriott Grand Ballroom.

MGBX is designed for the specific requirements of exhibitions and conferences.

It offers a large pre-function area, two meeting rooms, and a convention hall divisible into three rooms. Each of the three partitions within the convention hall provides more than 900 sqm of space and a ceiling height of 3.4 meters. The two meeting rooms, each about 290 sqm in size, make for the perfect breakout

rooms should these be needed during the event. When fully occupied, MGBX will host as much as 4,800 people at a given time.

“We’re excited to unveil the latest innovation at Marriott Hotel Manila: the MGBX Convention Hall,” says Bruce Winton, Cluster General Manager of Marriott Philippines. “MGBX is part of our grand vision to redefine the event experience in the Philippines and capitalize on the rapid expansion of the Philippine MICE market and its increasing capacity requirements. With the addition of MGBX not only will we now be able to further cater to the Exhibition segments, we will also be able to feed 4,000 guests in a single venue, demand for which we have turned away until now.”

From the Marriott Grand Ballroom, Marriott’s various facilities, including the 916-sqm Manila Ballroom inside the hotel, are integrated via Sky Bridge. To complete the experience, guests are able to access a range of additional F&B outlets, including Man Ho, an authentic Chinese restaurant and the rest of Resorts World Manila seamlessly.

Visit www.manilamarriott.com, or follow facebook.com/manilamarriott, Instagram and Twitter @manilamarriott.

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OWNY, the global leader in fabric softener, is one with the celebration of the National Women’s Month, led by the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), by recognizing and honoring seven purposeful women who have been a force of positive change in the society – Atty. Kristine Yuzon-Chavez, Kara David, Bianca Gonzales-Intal, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Iza Calzado-Wintle, Joy Wong, and Pia Wurtzbach

Downy Premium Parfum is created to give long-lasting fabric fragrance that is inspired by women who #NeverFade. This brings to life the launch of the Downy #NeverFade Awardees, a thoughtfully selected tribe of women who are not afraid to sweat it out in the pursuit of the advocacies they believe in. Their stories of passion paved way for women to have a voice that creates positive change – they inspire, they empower, and they never fade.

PPA net income soars 31% in 2019, highest posted 3 years into Duterte administration

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HE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) books its highest income in history, only 3 years into the term of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

The 2019 PPA net income has almost doubled the income registered in the first full year of management and operations of the current administration in 2017.

PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago said that the strong financial performance of the PPA is due to the various changes being implemented by the current administration led by no less than the President and the Secretary of Transportation.

“The changes range from manual to automated processes, installation of sophisticated, effective, and higher productivity port equipment, compliance with the world’s best port management practices, and most especially, the shift in the outlook of employees to public service with reliability, integrity, and accountability,” Santiago said.

Latest data from PPA showed that the 2019 net income reached P7.280 billion or 31% higher

than the 2018 figure of P5.553 billion. As against the target, the actual amount is 47% higher than the target of P4.941 billion. Compared to its 2017 net income of P4.473 billion, the current net income is better by 54%.

Combining all the growth percentages in the first 3 years of the current administration, the PPA net income is growing at an annual rate of 17%, the highest revenue growth percentage in any of the last 15 years.

“With this strong performance, the PPA again shall be able to help Government achieve its goal of giving comfortable lives to every Filipino not only through higher dividend remittance but also through efficient, effective and fast delivery of port services to our stakeholders and port users,” Santiago added.

Among the Port Management Offices that posted significant positive performance include South Harbor, Batangas, Davao, Surigao, and Bataan/Aurora. The positive deviation comes mainly from Lay-up fees, Ro-Ro fees, Domestic Dockage fee, Pilotage, the utilization of the Vessel Traffic Monitoring System, and other income.

Editor: Jun Lomibao • mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Sports BusinessMirror

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

C1

KOREAN NOTCHES

EMOTIONAL WIN

SUNGJAE IM: This

win is not for himself, but for his homeland, and for those dealing with a virus that has the world on edge. AP

JAPAN Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (fourth from left) attends an extraordinary board meeting on the next Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka on Sunday. AP

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B T R The Associated Press

ALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida—Moments after getting his first career Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour win, Sungjae Im took a moment to reflect on what it means.

Not for himself—for his homeland, and for those dealing with a virus that has the world on edge.

The 21-year-old South Korean started fast and finished stronger Sunday, winning The Honda Classic by one shot over Mackenzie Hughes and two over Tommy Fleetwood for his first victory in 50 tries on tour. But before he could be whisked back to the course to collect the trophy, Im made sure to speak out about the coronavirus and tell those in South Korea—where nearly 4,000 cases have been confirmed—that he was thinking of them.

“Over in Korea right now, I know a lot of people are dealing with the coronavirus,” Im said. “And it’s kind of a huge deal with everybody. But I’m just glad as a Korean player that I can deliver some good news to the countrymen back home...to do something for the country and make everybody proud.”

Im shot a four-under 66 on Sunday, finishing at six under to match the second-highest winning score since the Honda moved to PGA National in 2007. He was the tour’s rookie of the year last season, plus has played more tournaments and more rounds than anyone since the 2018-19 season began nearly a year-and-a-half ago. And now, he’s a winner, picking up $1.26 million this week and becoming the Honda’s 10th international champion in the last 16 seasons. Im birdied four of his first five holes, then birdied two of the final four—after sticking tee shots on the tough par-three 15 and

BEFORE SUNGJAE IM COULD BE WHISKED BACK TO THE COURSE TO COLLECT THE TROPHY, IM MADE SURE TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS AND TELL THOSE IN SOUTH KOREA—WHERE NEARLY 4,000 CASES HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED—THAT HE WAS THINKING OF THEM.

17th holes within 8 feet both times—to finish off the victory.

Hughes, a Canadian who made the cut on the number Friday, shot his second consecutive 66. Playing alongside Im, he was part of some serious fireworks on the last two holes and missed a birdie putt at the par-five finishing hole that would have gotten him into a tie for the top spot.

“I love being in the mix,” Hughes said. “I love having a chance to win, and yeah, it sucks to come up one short, to fight that hard all day. I just kind of thought I was going to do it. But still proud of the way I fought this week.”

Fleetwood (71) was alone in third and is still seeking his first PGA Tour win. He started the day one shot clear of the field and started birdie-birdie to get to seven under at that point—matching what was the low score in relation to par of the week.

Then PGA National did what it usually does, that being not let anyone run away from the pack.

Fleetwood made bogey on the par-four 6th and couldn’t get up and down from a greenside bunker on the par-four 8th, giving back what was left of his lead at that point. Fleetwood birdied the parthree 17th to get within one, but his approach at the par-5 finishing hole found the water to all but seal his fate.

“I was going well,” Fleetwood said. “My swing wasn’t there today. It wasn’t like a comfortable day...things weren’t quite there, but I hung in well.”

Once Fleetwood’s attempt at a miracle hole-out after a drop from 120 yards on 18 didn’t fall, Im could finally exhale as the winner. He hugged his caddie in the locker room, where he watched the last 20 minutes or so on a monitor.

“I’ve been in this spot many time.... I just felt like the experience

really helped,” Im said through a translator.

Some of Im’s best moments have come when no one has been looking. He was third at the Zozo Championship in Japan last October, a finish totally overshadowed by Tiger Woods tying the PGA Tour record of 82 career victories. And in November he went 3-1-1 to tie for the best showing by a player on the International team at the Presidents Cup, but the US team captained by Woods rallied in singles on the final day to win the trophy at Royal Melbourne.

But this time, he was on center stage and embraced the moment. Hughes and Im went to the par-three 17th green—the end of the “Bear Trap” three-hole stretch—in wildly different spots.

Im stuck his tee ball to just inside of 8 feet, while Hughes had nearly 55 feet left from above the hole.

Hughes rolled in his most improbable birdie to an enormous roar, pulling into a tie with Im at five under.

If Im was worried, it didn’t show. Im took a couple looks at his downhill line, took his putter back just a couple of inches and watched the ball roll in for a birdie that allowed him to reclaim his lead at six under—which, he hoped, created a bit of relief at home.

“Right now, all I can do is pray for the best and just hope moving forward that not many more people get affected,” Im said.

“Hopefully, this virus can calm down and sort itself out very soon.”

DIVOTS: Honda will remain the tournament’s namesake for a 40th consecutive year in 2021, extending the longest current run of title-sponsorship on tour.... Grayson Murray, who was 4 under on the par-three 17th in his first three rounds with an ace on Saturday, put his tee ball there in the water Sunday and made double bogey.... For the third consecutive year, no player had four rounds in the 60s on the par-70 track.

Virus outbreak continues to cause cancellation of events worldwide D OHA, Qatar—Organizers have canceled next weekend’s season-opening MotoGP race in Qatar because of “travel restrictions brought into force affecting passengers from Italy” due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The race was scheduled to take place on March 8, at the Losail International Circuit on the outskirts of Doha.

“FIM, IRTA and Dorna regret to announce the cancellation of all MotoGP class sessions at the Grand Prix of Qatar, including the race,” organizers said in a statement Sunday. “The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has resulted in Qatar travel restrictions being brought into force that affect passengers from Italy, among other countries.”

There have been 34 deaths from the COVID-19 illness in Italy and more than 1,100 people have tested positive.

All passengers arriving at Doha on direct flights from Italy, or having been in Italy in the past two weeks, will be quarantined for a minimum of 14 days. “Italy clearly plays a vital role in the Championship and in the MotoGP class—both on track and off— and, therefore, the decision has been taken to cancel premier class competition,” continued the statement.

Italian Andrea Dovizioso won last year’s Qatar GP. The Moto2 and Moto3 classes will take place as the teams and riders were already in Qatar for the three-day official test at the track earlier this week.

NO FANS FOR SUMO MEET JAPANESE sumo wrestling is the latest sport to be affected by fears of the new coronavirus outbreak.

On Sunday, national broadcaster NHK reported that officials of the Japan Sumo Association decided to hold the March 8 to 22

Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka with no spectators in another move aimed at halting the outbreak.

The decision by sumo officials follows a similar move made

by Japanese professional baseball which is holding its preseason exhibition games at empty stadiums.

The Yomiuri Giants, Japan’s oldest and most popular team, played Saturday night’s game against the Yakult Swallows at an empty Tokyo Dome. The Giants regularly draw capacity crowds at the 55,000-seat stadium in central Tokyo.

Japan has taken extensive measures to curb the spread of the virus with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics set to open on July 24.

On Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked all elementary, middle and high schools nationwide to close until late March to help control the spread of the virus.

The domestic J-League announced on Tuesday that all 94 soccer matches scheduled to run through March 15 would be postponed.

The Japan Racing Association also took the step of holding its horse races without spectators. On Saturday, races in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture were held at an empty race course.

Sunday’s Tokyo Marathon, one of the world’s largest races with an estimated 38,000 runners, was restricted to elite runners due to the outbreak. Tokyo organizers and the IOC have repeatedly said the Tokyo Games will go ahead as scheduled and that they are following the advice of the World Health Organization. The Olympics are set to gather 11,000 athletes to Tokyo, followed by the Paralympics beginning August 25 with 4,000 athletes.

BASEBALL QUALIFIERS POSTPONED BASEBALL’S final qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympics has been

postponed from April to June because of concerns over the virus outbreak that has infected nearly 89,000 people and caused more than 3,000 deaths, mostly in China.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation announced on Monday in Taipei the qualification event scheduled for Taichung and Dou Liu in Taiwan on April 1 to 5 had been postponed to June 17 to 21 because of “player, personnel and spectator health and safety measures against the spread of the coronavirus.”

Hundreds of new cases of the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease have been announced in recent days outside of China. There

have been 40 cases and one death in Taiwan.

The Olympics are scheduled to open July 24, with baseball competition set to be played at Fukushima and Yokohama from July 29 to August 8.

The second- and third-place teams from the Americas qualifying tournament in Arizona next month will advance to the final qualifying tournament in Taiwan, joining a field that will include Australia, China, the Netherlands and Taiwan.

Baseball was an Olympic event from 1992-08 and has been restored for the Tokyo Oympics. AP

C2

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

EMMA HINZE wins a third gold medal in keirin and makes it a clean sweep for the host nation in women’s sprinting events at the Berlin Velodrome. AP

Germans, Dutch dominate track cycling worlds

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ERLIN—Emma Hinze of Germany and Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands put a fitting bow Sunday on the final day of the track cycling world championships, the last major event for their sport ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

Hinze won her third gold medal by holding off the field from the front in the keirin, making it a clean sweep for the host nation in the women’s sprinting events at the Berlin Velodrome. And Lavreysen won his third gold in the sprint to give the Dutch team a table-leading six gold medals and nine total over the course of the five-day event.

“I think this is the best feeling,” Lavreysen said, “to take three golds out of three races. I couldn’t wish for more.”

In the other two events Sunday, Elinor Barker of Britain gained a lap on the field in the women’s points race to easily win her fifth career world championships gold medal. And, in the men’s Madison, which returns to the Olympic program this year, Danish riders Lasse Norman Hansen and Michael Morkov gained an early lap and cruised to the victory.

The story of the world championships, though, where the German women sprinters and the strength of the Dutch team.

Hinze had already won gold in the sprint and teamed with Lea Friedrich—also the gold medalist in the 500 meters—and Pauline Grabosch to win the team sprint. So she took the starting line for the keirin already pleased with her week and, in some ways, hardly expecting to find her way to the front of the mass-sprinting event.

Instead, that’s exactly where she found herself on the ball lap at the Berlin Velodrome.

All she had to do from there was keep to the inside sprinter’s lane and kick for the finish line as the rest of the field attempted to catch her.

Lee Hye-jin of Korea took the silver medal, Stephanie Morton salvaged bronze to finish off a rough worlds for Australia, and defending champion Lee Wai Sze of Hong Kong finished fourth and missed out on a medal entirely.

“I still can’t believe it. I didn’t expect to win,” Hinze said. “Lea and Pauline and I won every event at this world championships. If someone were to tell me that before, I wouldn’t believe it.

It’s just awesome.”

In the men’s sprint, Lavreysen easily swept aside Malaysia’s Azizulhasni Awang in the semifinals and advanced to face his Dutch teammate Jeffrey Hoogland, who dispatched Mateusz Rudyk of Poland to reach the goldmedal round.

Lavreysen needed only two races in the bestof-three match to finish off his golden world championships.

“It was really tough,” he said of facing his teammate. “We did it a lot of times the last two years, but I think the hardest part is the coaches don’t worry about coaching us. They already won gold. They just say, ’You guys fight it out and we’ll see.’ So I had to make my own plan and work it out myself.”

Barker controlled the women’s points race from the moment she gained a lap, then added a sprint win to finish with 50 points and claim gold. American rider Jennifer Valente added silver to the gold she won in the team pursuit and the silver she won in the scratch race to cap a solid showing at worlds, and Anita Yvonne Stenberg of Norway took bronze.

“Really, really happy,” Barker said. “It feels kind of like a blur of pain, to be honest. I’m going to have to watch it back to see what happened.

The last 30 laps was so painful, but I’m happy with how it went. A dream come true.” AP

Spo

Business

SUN TO APPEAL

EIGHT-YEAR BAN S UN YANG’S lawyer has confirmed the swimmer will lodge an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal following the decision to ban the Chinese pool star for eight years.

Zhang Qihuai, a lawyer for Sun, has confirmed the swimmer will appeal the verdict to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

Zhang released a statement which alleged the decision to ban Sun had been based on “false evidence.”

“February 28, 2020, was a dark day,” Zhang told the South China Morning Post. “It shows the scene where evil defeats justice and power replaces self-evident truths.

The decision in Sun’s case was announced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday.

Sun received the maximum eight-year sanction for a second doping offense and will not be able to return until February 2028.

The CAS panel upheld an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) against a decision from the International Swimming Federation (Fina) to let Sun off with a warning after finding him guilty of tampering with the doping control process.

It followed a member of Sun’s entourage destroying his blood vial with a hammer during

SUN YANG’S lawyer says in a statement that the decision to ban the swimmer is based on “false evidence.”

an attempted drugs test in September 2018.

The decision, which came after a 10-hour public hearing in November, effectively ends Sun’s career and rules him out of competing at this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

CAS ruled the 28-year-old had “failed to establish that he had a compelling justification to destroy his sample collection containers.”

His vial was smashed with a hammer on the instruction of Sun’s mother.

“On this day, CAS listened to prejudice, turned a blind eye to rules and procedures,

turned a blind eye to facts and evidence, and accepted all lies and false evidence,” Zhang added. The CAS hearing, which was held in public, saw the 11-times world champion protest his innocence and claim the officials’ credentials did not adhere to anti-doping regulations.

The CAS panel had agreed with Wada that the accreditation of the doping control officer at the center of the row which led to the vial being smashed were in line with international standards.

Sun, the subject of protests from rival

swimmers after he won two gold medals at last year’s Fina World Championships, appeared evasive under questioning and irked the panel’s President Franco Frattini by attempting to bring a member of the gallery into proceedings to translate his closing statement.

The controversial swimmer, one of the biggest names in the sport, had requested the hearing be held in public.

Sun will keep the two titles he claimed at the World Championships in Gwangju, CAS also confirmed. Insidethegames

Transgender lifter ter Hubbard’s Tokyo 2020 quest in danger

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AUREL HUBBARD, the transgender weightlifter who is trying to qualify for Tokyo 2020 at the age of 42, broke a continental record but then bombed out in the Australian Open in Canberra—an Olympic qualifying competition.

The New Zealander’s hopes of qualifying for the Olympic Games now rest on her performance in the Oceania Championships in Nauru next month, where she needs to make a good total and finish ahead of her nearest continental rival from Samoa, Feagaiga Stowers.

Superheavyweight Hubbard made a personal best of 133 kilograms in the snatch, bettering her own Oceania record by 1 kg. She then made her first two clean and jerk attempts at 145 kg and 146 kg only to see both attempts given three red lights for a press-out.

Failure to complete her final attempt left Hubbard with a bomb-out and gave victory to Iunarria Sipaia of Samoa, who made a total of 260 kg. Stowers did not compete in Canberra.

Hubbard’s 133 kgs was the fifth best snatch in the women’s superheavyweights on the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) rankings, bettered only by three Chinese lifters and the Russian Tatiana Kashirina. But her clean and jerk is clearly a problem area for Hubbard.

Hubbard sustained a serious elbow injury at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and has made only two good lifts in her past nine clean and jerk attempts in international competition.

Hubbard, whose presence in women’s weightlifting has been criticized by rival

LAUREL HUBBARD continues to have problems in the clean and jerk.

athletes and coaches, transitioned from male to female in her mid-thirties. She has been in the headlines around the world in the past few days after strong comments by Tamsyn Lewis, the Australian former middle-distance runner, and the high-profile British broadcaster Piers Morgan. Morgan, who has 7 million social-media followers, said Hubbard’s advantage over her rivals, because of her previous life as a male, was “insane.”

“Women’s rights to basic fairness and equality are getting destroyed at the altar of political correctness,” Morgan said. “Trans women born with biological male bodies have a massive physical advantage against women born

with female bodies in any sport where power and strength are significant factors.”

“This shouldn’t be a contentious claim, it’s just a rather obvious fact,” Morgan added.

“If you’ve grown up a male and had testosterone, your bone structure is different to the female, your upper body strength is going to remain, you’ve got greater lung capacity, a larger heart size, and there’s too many unknowns about how much going through puberty and being born a male is going to affect your result,” Lewis, 41, a triple Olympian and three times a Commonwealth Games relay gold medalist, said.

“If we don’t take a stand, what’s going to happen to the female category of sport?” Lewis

stressed. Under the International Olympic Committee’s 2015 guidelines, Hubbard and other transgender athletes can compete in women’s sport provided their testosterone levels are below 10 nanomoles per liter for at least a year before their first international competition.

Eileen Cikamatana, the former Fijian who now competes for Australia, made a total of 250 kg in the women’s 81 kg in Canberra.

It was the fourth time in her four international competitions as an Australian that Cikamatana lifted 250 kg or more.

The 20-year-old cannot qualify for Tokyo 2020 because of her nationality switch.

NOT yet 21, Jo Adell is already making heads turn.

AP

ANGELS PROSPECT

ON THE RISE S

COTTSDALE, Arizona—A sprint down the line and a laser throw home hinted at the promise of Jo Adell. Two strikeouts against veteran Colorado Rockies pitchers on Sunday underscored the learning curve the Los Angeles Angels’ top prospect embraces.

“I’m just working hard every day to try and play in the big leagues anywhere I can,” said the 6-foot3, 215-pound right-handed hitter.

Picked 10th overall in the 2017 draft, Adell has a combined .273 batting average with a .351 on-base percentage and .444 slugging percentage in three minor league seasons. He played 21 games in Triple-A last season and hit .321.

In his second spring training, he is soaking up the wisdom from veteran outfielders, including three-time American League MVP Mike Trout.

“With Trout and a lot of the guys who are veteran players, you watch and you learn and you try to pick up on things they do well and try to add them to your own game,” Adell said. “That’s what I’ve gotten out of the past two years being in camp with these guys.”

New Angels Manager Joe Maddon is pleased with the progress of a youngster who won’t turn 21 until next month.

“He’s hit some balls really well to right center so far,” Maddon said. “Talking with a him a lot obviously, he’s a very confident young man with really good abilities all the way around.”

“Whether it is running, hitting, hitting with power, the whole defensive gig, he’s got it all going on and he’s really young,” he said. “When you look at him, you don’t realize that. He’s 20? Maybe 21?

He’s going to keep getting better. He’s really eager.

He wants to learn. He’s got a lot of great qualities.

The sky’s the limit, absolutely.”

In his first at-bat Sunday, against German Marquez, Adell took a high fastball, whiffed on a slider, took a slider in the dirt, fouled back a 97 mph fastball and was frozen on an 87 mph slider for a called strike three.

Next time up, Adell swung and missed at two curveballs while striking out against right-handed veteran Wade Davis. Adell grounded out to third base on the first pitch of his final at-bat and his blazing speed was evident as he got down the line.

In the fifth, Adell made a catch in right field and fired home, nearly cutting down Chris Owings, who had tagged up from third.

His speed and instincts make Adell a natural leadoff hitter. In Sunday’s split squad game, a 6-3 loss to the Rockies, he batted third.

“Every position in the lineup has its own tasks,” Adell said. “It is pretty cool to bounce around and try to figure that out. It has made me a better hitter. When I first got drafted, it was 2-or 3-hole, and then I started to lead off, and it made contact more of the emphasis.”

With Trout blocking his way in center field, Adell is likely to play right field or left field when he answers the call to the big leagues. In training camp outfield drills, he has played all three outfield positions. “I’m moving around,” he said. “That’s our big thing, being versatile.” AP

Finn prevails in Oman Liu leads US Team Bryan Brothers rules WTT Celebrity All-Star Match

qualifiers S

ANTA MONICA, California—Liu Juan qualified for the Olympics in table tennis Sunday along with three other US athletes.

Liu, a former member of the Chinese national team, finished first in the women's competition at the US Olympic trials. Huijing Wang, who finished second, also qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, and Lily Zhang qualified previously based on International Table Tennis Federation world rankings.

On the men’s side, Nikhil Kumar finished first, and Zhou Xin nabbed the second remaining Olympic qualifying spot. They joined Kanak Jha, who qualified previously. Liu became a US citizen in 2016 and is now a table tennis coach in New York. AP

Insidethegames

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ARLSBAD, California—Team Bryan Brothers beat Team Sharapova, 22-13, on Sunday in the World TeamTennis Celebrity All-Star Match at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. The match featured Bob and Mike Bryan, Sam Querrey, and Rio Olympics champion Monica Puig from the Vegas Rollers, Ryan Harrison and Coco Vandeweghe of the San Diego Aviators, Madison Keys of the Orlando Storm, Taylor Townsend of the Philadelphia Freedoms and player/coach Mardy Fish of the New York Empire.

The Bryan brothers, tennis’ winningest doubles team in the midst of their final year together on the ATP Tour, capped off the match with a 5-2 victory over Harrison and Fish, and were named the match’s co-MVPs. “It’s a good way to showcase WTT,” Mike Bryan said. “Sellout crowd. Energy was off the charts. Every one of the players is in a great mood.”

Townsend helped Team Bryan Brothers to a 15-6 lead after the first three sets. She teamed with Keys to beat Vandeweghe and Puig 5-0 in the opening set, women’s singles, partnered with Mike Bryan to down Vandeweghe and Harrison, 5-3, in mixed doubles, and subbed in for Keys to finish off

a 5-3 victory in women’s singles.

Two-time WTT champion and five-time Grand Slam champ Maria Sharapova coached her team in her first appearance at a tennis event since her retirement from the WTA Tour was announced Wednesday. Sharapova is scheduled to play two matches during the World TeamTennis season with the Orange County Breakers on July 28 and 29.

“I’ve been part of World TeamTennis ever since

I was a little girl. It was really the event that gave me the experience that I needed at that age,” said Sharapova, who won WTT titles with the Breakers in 2004 and 2017. “I’ve played World TeamTennis on this court, so good memories to be back here. Every athlete, you have to say I’m finished at one point and it came for me this week.” The WTT Celebrity All-Star Match kicked off WTT’s 45th season at the home of WTT’s San Diego Aviators. AP

USCAT, Oman—Sami Valimaki of Finland overcame difficult conditions to win the Oman Open on Sunday after beating South African Brandon Stone in a playoff in the third edition of the European Tour event.

Valimaki and Stone finished joint top on 13-under 275 after both shot two-under 70s in the final round played on a gusty day.

Both made par on the first two extra holes played on the par-four 18th before Stone faltered with a bogey on their third time around. The Finn held his nerve to make par and claim his first career tour victory. The final round began with a crowded leaderboard as six players tied for the overnight lead with Joost Luiten among them looking to win his second title at the Al Mouj Golf club. The Dutchman fell out of contention after shooting a three-over 75 to finish joint 10th with an 8-under 280.

Adrien Saddier (69) of France finished a shot back of the leaders on 12-under 276 in third with Italy’s Guido Migliozzi (71) and Finland’s Mikko Korhonen (72) rounding out the top 5 another shot back. AP

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Tuesday, March 3, 2020

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DE LA PISA, EALA LEAD MILO JR. ATHLETES LIST O NE of the most inspiring stories churned in by young athletes in the 30th Southeast Asian Games will be recognized with a special honor in the San Miguel Corp.- Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel on Friday.

Gymnastics gold medal winner Daniela de la Pisa joins tennis phenom Alex Eala, future Grandmaster Daniel Quizon and ace swimmer Miguel Barreto as the Milo Junior Athletes of the Year in the gala night organized and presented by the country’s oldest media organization led by its president, Tito Talao, sports editor of the Manila Bulletin.

De la Pisa, 16, stepped out of the shadow of illustrious teammate and world champion Carlos

Heavyweights launch bids in Grand Prix

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EAVYWEIGHTS F2 Logistics and Chery Tiggo launch their respective title quest when they tackle separate foes in an explosive triple-header of the Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix on Tuesday at the Bacoor Strike Gym in Bacoor City.

After falling short of winning the title the past couple of years, the Cargo Movers start their quest when they face dangerous PLDT Home Fibs at 5 p.m. while the Crossovers battle a retooled Marinerang Pilipina squad in the 7 p.m. nightcap.

Generika-Ayala hunts its first win as it collides with Cignal in the 3 p.m. opener.

F2 Logistics, a team that ruled this importlaced conference in 2017, as suddenly relegated into a bridesmaid after Petron, behind the prowess of Katherine Bell and its star-studded local crew, dominated the past two editions of the Grand Prix.

But a lot of things happened in the offseason as Petron lost its core of Mika Reyes, Denden Lazaro, Rhea Dimaculangan and Chloe Cortez while F2 Logistics confirmed the return of import Lindsay Stalzer and Filipino-American spiker Kalei Mau as well as the services of Aby Maraño, Kianna Dy, Kim Fajardo, Dawn Macandili and newly-crowned PSL ambassadress Majoy Baron.

The Cargo Movers are marching to the season as a heavily-favored squad and a impressive win in their first match would definitely validate that claim. “Kalei is a super good addition to the team. I love having her around. She brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm and power to the practices and of course, she’ll bring it to the game,” said Stalzer, who is looking forward to her first partnership with the former Arizona standout.

PLDT would be banking on the return of seasoned head coach Roger Gorayeb, who missed more than half of the conference last year after undergoing surgery.

Gorayeb’s return, however, was spoiled by the Power Hitters’ 24-26, 23-25, 27-29 loss to Sta. Lucia in the opener over the weekend as Canadian Shainah Joseph erupted with 23 points while new player Mika Reyes nailed five blocks for 10 points. Chery Tiggo, meanwhile, parades its new core bannered by Mylene Paat, Jasmine Nabor, Rachel Austero, Joy Dacoron, Janine Navarro and import Tatjana Bokan.

Crossovers Coach Aaron Velez has high hopes on his wards as they are hungry to end a fouryear title drought in Grand Prix.

Yulo to bag gold in hoop of women’s rhythmic gymnastics of the recent SEA Games. It was the only gold produced by Filipino gymnasts outside of the two won by Yulo in men’s artistic all-around and floor events.

The young Cebuana did the feat after overcoming ovarian cancer at the tender age of four. Through chemotherapy and the love and all-out support of her family, she continued her passion for the sport behind the guidance of her mother Darlene, a former gymnast herself, to become the successful athlete that she is today.

De la Pisa also clinched bronze medals in rhythmic ball and clubs.

Eala, Quizon and Barreto had their share of the limelight, proof that “Great things start

from small beginnings” through hard work and discipline. The 14-year-old Eala continues her meteoric rise in the world rankings, finishing 2019 at No. 9 after making her junior Grand Slam debut in the US Open.

Eala also leads the list of Tony Siddayao Awardees who will be recognized in the event supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Milo, Cignal TV, Philippine Basketball Association, AirAsia and Rain or Shine.

Quizon, also 14, earned an International Master title after winning gold in the U16 standard competition of the Eastern Asia Youth Chess Championships in Bangkok. He was also the best-placed Filipino in blitz at the Asian Continental Chess Championship in China where

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GYMNAST Daniela de la Pisa (left) and tennis phenom Alex Eala are paving their way to a bright future in sports.

PGT UNVEILS NEW,

NOVEL SEASON T HE country’s touring pros both in the men’s and ladies ranks set out for another busy season as the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) lined up a full calendar of multimillion-peso tournaments at the country’s top golf courses.

What makes this year’s edition different from the past is that the men and ladies tour will now be held on the same playdates starting with the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Summit Point Challenge at Summit Point in Lipa City in Batangas, from March 23 to 28.

“This is done in other tours abroad,” said PGTI general manager Colo Ventosa, referring to the new setup wherein the ladies tournament will be held first then the men’s on the same course. “But we will still have stand-alone ladies

tournaments co-sanctioned by the TLPGA [Ladies Professional Golf Association of Taiwan],” added Ventosa, while reiterating their commitment to put up more international tournaments for the ladies. For the first time, the ladies will hold a national pro-am tournament side by side with the men’s from May 14 to 16 at Splendido Taal Golf Club before the circuit moves to Royal Northwoods in San Rafael, Bulacan, for the ICTSI Royal Northwoods Challenge from May 24 to 29.

The rest of the schedule with be unveiled on Tuesday. The new season, which comes on the heels of a successful decade-long men’s pro circuit put up by ICTSI in 2009, will be launched in brief rites on Tuesday at The Country Club coinciding with the pro-am tournament of the TCC Invitational, the centerpiece tournament of

each PGT circuit.

The top 30 players in last year’s PGT Order of Merit ranking make up the cast with a total prize fund of P5-million, the richest outside of the Philippine Open, up for grabs.

Meanwhile, the elite TCC Invitational cast test the dreaded Tom Weiskoph-designed layout once last time today before launching their respective drive for the top P1.5 million purse tomorrow.

Former champions Tony Lascuña and Frankie Miñoza banner the stellar cast in the 72-hole championship put up by ICTSI president/ chairman Ricky Razon to honor the memory of his father and ICTSI founder Don Pocholo.

While some former winners have begged off to honor a previous commitment to play in

the Malaysian Open also slated this week, the TCC Invitational field remains as talent-laden as ever with reigning Phl Open champ and recent Pradera Verde winner Clyde Mondilla leading the crack roster of challengers.

It includes young guns Ira Alido and Keanu Jahns along with PGT leg winners Jhonnel Ababa, Jay Bayron, Reymon Jaraula, Michael Bibat, Zanieboy Gialon, Jerson Balasabas, Elmer Salvador, Mhark Fernando and Dutch Guido Van der Valk and PGT Asia champions James Ryan Lam, Joenard Rates and Rene Menor. Completing the cast are Rufino Bayron, NIlo Salahog, Richard Sinfuego, Fidel Concepcion, Rico Depilo, Albin Engino, Ferdie Aunzo, Paul Echavez, Japanese Kei Matsuoka, Gerald Rosales, Spain’s Marcos Pastor, Lexus Keoninh of the US and Art Arbole.

CEBU CC GUNS FOR INTERCLUB HISTORY

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EBU Country Club (CC) will be shooting to win the centerpiece men’s title in the Philippine Airlines Interclub starting Wednesday here, and if successful, the squad will be writing a piece of tournament history no team has ever done before.

Relegated to the Founders Division with three of its top players last year begging off for personal reasons, Cebu CC will be trying to duplicate what only one other squad has done in the past, and that is to win the Championship diadem coming from a lower division.

Only Aguinaldo in the late 1980s was able to pull off that trick before Cebu CC duplicated it last year with masterful performances at its home course and the tricky Mactan layout in Cebu.

“We came here very prepared,” playing skipper Bayani Garcia said.

“Whether we play in the Championship or Founders, we will be ready to defend

our title.”

Interclub rules allow for teams coming from whatever division to win the Championship crown, which Manila Southwoods is expected to dominate with a roster that is armed to the teeth.

That was the same scenario last year when the Carmona-based squad was shooting to win a team record fifth straight title. But Cebu CC spoiled the party as it played under everyone’s radar on the first day to take the lead it never relinquished.

Southwoods, Del Monte and Luisita, squads that have solid young programs, are the only teams campaigning in the Championship division.

Yuto Katsuragawa, the pro-bound Japanese, will lead Southwoods’s charge together with the reactivated Vince Lauron, the former pro who has stayed in great game shape despite attending to numerous businesses.

DAYAO LIFTS U.E. TO FIRST U.A.A.P. WOMEN’S JUDO CROWN; VOLLEYBALL ACTION UNWRAPS

ENEZA DAYAO powered University of the East (UE) to its first-ever women’s judo crown as University of Santo Tomas (UST) and University of the Philippines (UP) lost their stranglehold in the heavier classes in UAAP Season 82 action on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Lady Warriors finished with 30 points, just two ahead of former fivetime champions UST Lady Judokas. The one-gold and one-silver haul was enough to propel UE to the historic championship.

“We stuck to the general game plan—no matter what, we’ll fight to the end,” UE captain Jea Lopez said.

The sophomore Dayao took the half-middleweight gold over Ateneo’s Gabriele Mereria. UST’s Jeanmae Lobo and Russel Arconado bag the bronze medals. Sydney Sy, as expected, dominated her league debut and ran away with the Rookie of the Year honors.

he toppled three Grandmasters—Wan Yunquo and Liu Yan of China, along with Venkataraman Karthik of India.

Quizon is currently the youngest among the top 20 Filipino players.

Barreto distinguished himself as the most successful athlete in last year’s Palarong Pambansa by winning seven gold medals, anchoring the National Capital Region’s dominance in swimming. The 16-year-old pride of Malolos (Bulacan) shattered meet records in the boys’ 200-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly.

Barreto was part of the Philippine team in the 30th SEA Games, advancing in the men’s 400-meter freestyle.

The world sambo medalist beat UP’s Jubelle Vergara in the semifinals, before finishing off teammate Risa Dela Cruz for the gold in the heavyweight class. UP’s Kayla Amado snared the middleweight title to give last year’s Rookie of the Year Remianne Pangilinan a silver for UE. Christine Pagdanganan was unable to close it out for UST as Fighting Maroon Justine Main claimed her second straight half-heavyweight gold to help UP finish at third place with 22 points. The volleyball, meanwhile, unfolds with Far Eastern University and University of the East taking the floor on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak, organizers are set to roll the red carpet for the men’s and women’s volleyball tournament which was originally scheduled to begin on February 15.

The Lady Tamaraws and Lady

Warriors square off at 3:30 p.m., while their male counterparts tangle in the first game at 2 p.m.

FEU booked its fifth straight semifinals appearance last year with a 9-5 won-loss record in the eliminations.

The Morayta-based squad tries to extend the streak to sixth under Coach George Pascua.

Lycha Ebon banners the team along with Cza Carandang, Van Agudo and libero Buding Duremdes. Among their graduates are Jerrili Malabana, Kyle Negrito and Heather Guino-o.

The Karl Dimaculangan-coached UE side, meanwhile, has seniors Mean Mendrez and Seth Rodriguez to lead the squad that bade goodbye to Kath Arado and Lai Bedong, the Best Libero and Best Setter last year.

The Lady Warriors had a dismal season with a seventh-place finish on a 3-11 record last year.

BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia (fourth from right) kicks off the Regular Interclub during the ceremonial tee off at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club. Joining Leonardia are Philippine Airlines officials (from left) Rene Aviles, Chris Biscocho, Bong Velasquez, Russel Jao, Pinky Custodio, Donna Casimiro and Joy Carpentero.

VINCENT JUICO @VJuico, Instagram vpjp_j, vince.juico@gmail.com

SPORTS WITHOUT BORDERS

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O, this isn’t to announce the fourth installment of Kung Fu Panda, it’s the fists of the newly crowned heavyweight champion of the world Tyson “Gypsy King” Fury. The newfound power in both of Fury’s is about the result of a change in direction in his training.

According to George Ramsay of CNN.com, “Late last year, Fury split with trainer Ben Davison and partnered with Javan “SugarHill” Steward and his cousin Andy Lee at Detroit’s Kronk Gym, where the Briton had previously trained as a

Fists of Fury fresh-faced 21-year-old.

The newly installed trainers spoke before the fight about helping Fury to focus on the basics—balance, movement in the ring and punching technique.

“Wilder has real power and that’s a great thing. But that power’s not so great when it’s used against you. Sometimes you can wait for that big punch too long,” Lee told The Guardian ahead of the fight. “[Fury’s] balance has improved.

With improved balance comes greater

power. By punching at the same time, and countering him before he lands, he can definitely knock Wilder out.” As they say in professional sports, no sacrifice, no championships. Wilder wants a third fight which has already been scheduled for July 18 which means Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte, the mandatory challenger will have to wait.

Fury’s newfound power in both hands, balance and punching technique will give possible opponents something to think about.

Oconer, Navymen lock in on individual, team titles B R R B

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AGUIO City—A squad of Navymen are riding like a band of brothers in the Ronda Pilipinas that has shaped up as a 10th anniversary edition the Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance team are bound to dominate with authority.

The Navymen rode as a team anew in the climb to Baguio City on Monday, keeping George Oconer atop the general classification and gifting Daniel Ven Cariño Stage 8 honors in the race that winds up in two days.

Six Navymen figured in a 10-man breakaway that stood unchallenged in the Marcos Highway ascent—the race had to use the alternative gateway to the Summer Capital because the more dreaded Kennon Road is undergoing rehabilitation.

The breakaway included three Go for Gold riders and one ArmyBicycology climber. At the end of the day, all of them benefited from the strong Navymen who pedaled uphill as if they were fish in the water.

The race leaders could have easily plucked stage honors as what they did in the last four days, but they preferred to finish the day’s task as gentlemen in the highest order in cycling.

Cariño, Go for Gold’s chief rider, topped the 170-km stage in four hours, 30 minutes and four seconds, making his townmates in Mangaldan in nearby Pangasinan as very proud fans.

Marvic Tapic held fort for his outfit Army and placed second, while another Go for Gold rider, Jonel Carcueva, settled for third in another mass finish.

The 28-year-old Oconer was 10th in the stage and in front of him were Ismael Grospe Jr. of Go for Gold (fourth) and the throng of Navy riders Junrey Navarra (fifth), Ronald Oranza (sixth) Ronald Lomotos (seventh), John Mark Camingao (eighth) and Daniel’s elder brother El Joshua Cariño (ninth).

Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance has locked in on two titles—Oconer establishing himself as the virtual general classification champion with an aggregate time of 27 hours, 34 minutes and 35 seconds and the Navymen the team classification kings.

The next five riders in the standings remain unchanged— Oranza behind by one minute and 15 seconds, followed by Lomotos (1:18), Camingao (1:53), Navarra (2:17) and Cariño (3:51).

Oconer, who was second overall in 2015 and third when he was still a 19-year-old in the 2011 inaugurals, just needs to avoid going deep in 176.4-km Stage 9 from Pugo in La Union to Vigan City on Tuesday, and the Stage 10 criterium in the heritage city on Wednesday.

“We are like brother. They helped me to get here,” Oconer said.

“Claiming the title is my biggest dream. But this means nothing without my teammates.

There is virtually no denying Oconer and company of the team title. The Navymen are 33 minute and 28 seconds ahead of closest pursuer Go for Gold.

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Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Man City keeps winning trophies despite bigger off-field fight L ONDON—Even as the investigations continue into how Manchester City’s squad was funded, its ability to collect trophies is undisputed.

Particularly the League Cup. It’s only the secondary cup competition but it is the first major piece of silverware handed out each season in England. And for the third consecutive season, it was Pep Guardiola’s side picking it up at Wembley thanks to a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday secured by first-half goals from Sergio Agüero and Rodri.

“Since we won the first title against Arsenal,” Guardiola reflected on the 2018 League Cup final, “we have played 11 competitions and won eight...so that’s a lot. It’s not just about one title, it’s to show every game to try to win and that’s the best thing we can give for our club.”

Not since Liverpool in the 1980s has a hat trick of League Cups been achieved. Liverpool will prevent City achieving such a threepeat in the Premier League, with the top 2 separated by 22 points.

But City has Liverpool in its sights for a bigger prize— dethroning them as Champions League winners. It could be the last opportunity before a two-season ban from European competition that is being challenged in court by City lawyers.

The strength’s squad—the most expensively assembled in football history—was clear against Villa at Wembley. Eight players could be changed from a lineup that beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday and still see off Villa, not with ease but comfortably enough.

Agüero struck the opener after 20 minutes after Rodri’s cross was headed into his path by Phil Foden.

Rodri was on target himself with a header on the half-hour after Ilkay Gundogan swung in a corner that should have actually been a Villa goal kick.

A despairing Prince William was soon seen celebrating though in an executive box when a slip by John Stones allowed Anwar El Ghazi to set up Mbwana Samatta to pull one back in the 41st.

It ensured City didn’t run away with this game, but the struggling Birmingham side could find no way of forcing the game to extra time.

For the fourth time in five seasons, City lifted the League Cup. “At the end, we suffered a little bit,” Rodri said. “We knew we could never give up.”

Before the League Cup final, the focus was on the race for Champions League qualification. City’s European ban adds both intrigue and uncertainty given the appeal.

Fifth place will secure a place in the elite competition if secondplace City can’t overturn the punishment for breaching of UEFA financial regulations.

Manchester United will be needing City to fail at the Court of Arbitration for Sport as it is in fifth place and was held 1-1 at Everton on Sunday to sit three points behind Chelsea.

United goalkeeper David de Gea’s poor clearance allowed Dominic Calvert-Lewin to put Everton in front. Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was then at fault for the equalizer with poor positioning allowing Bruno Fernandes to net.

Calvert-Lewin was denied a stoppage-winner when VAR found Gylfi Sigurdsson to be offside.

“Fair enough, he’s in an offside position but then it takes a deflection, the keeper is going the other way and he’s got his legs out of the way,” Calvert-Lewin said. “The keeper is never going to save the ball so I’m not sure what it is.” AP

MANCHESTER City players celebrate their League Cup final victory against Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium in London. AP

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SPECTATORS have their temperature measured as they enter the Via del Mare Stadium in Lecce, Italy, on Sunday. AP

VIRUS THROWS SERIE A SEASON INTO CHAOS M

By Daniella Matar The Associated Press

ILAN—Amid a global health crisis, Italian soccer teams and Serie A’s governing body are squabbling with each other about when to play games with Inter Milan Chief Executive Giuseppe Marotta saying the season even runs the risk of being unable to finish.

Five games scheduled in the top tier of the Italian league this weekend were postponed on Saturday in an attempt to contain the coronavirus outbreak. “The decision was down to me, but the clubs involved were contacted by telephone, so we know everyone’s positions which were difficult to reconcile,” Paolo Dal Pino, the president of governing body Lega Serie A, said on Sunday.

“I invite everyone to think as Serie A, not as individual clubs.”

Later Sunday, the Lega also announced the postponement of Sampdoria’s match at home to Hellas Verona. The president of the Liguria regional government had earlier said Monday’s match would be played without fans.

The Lega has called an emergency assembly for Wednesday to “examine the consequences the governmental measures related to coronavirus have had on the fixture list.”

But the Serie A season was thrown further into chaos on Sunday when the Italian government issued a new decree extending the suspension of all sporting events in Lombardy, Veneto and EmiliaRomagna until March 8.

Authorities said the total number of people infected in Italy had risen to 1,694, a 50-percent jump from just 24 hours earlier. Five more people infected with the virus have died, bringing the deaths in Italy to 34, while 83 people have fully recovered.

With clusters of virus infections in the Lombardy and Veneto regions, the biggest fixture lost from the Serie A program was Juventus’ home game Sunday against Inter Milan in Turin—a match known as the Derby d’Italia, or Italy’s derby.

That match and the other four games affected were set to be played in a stadium with no fans to comply with the ban on sporting events imposed by the government. Piedmont (which includes Turin) was one of the regions where restrictions end on Sunday at

THE SERIE A SEASON WAS THROWN FURTHER INTO CHAOS ON SUNDAY WHEN THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT ISSUED A NEW DECREE EXTENDING THE SUSPENSION OF ALL SPORTING EVENTS IN LOMBARDY, VENETO AND EMILIA-ROMAGNA UNTIL MARCH 8. midnight. Marotta attacked the league’s decision but Dal Pino said on Sunday that Inter had refused another option offered to the clubs. “On Friday we proposed to Inter to move the match against Juventus to Monday night to be able to play it with fans present,” Dal Pino said. “Inter categorically refused to go out onto the field, so it should assume its own responsibilities and not talk about sportsmanship or a falsified championship.

“Marotta represents the needs of Inter, I look after the general interests of all of Serie A, which unfortunately means daily conflicts of interests tied to each and every club. I have to promote Italian soccer and its image to the world, transmitting games in empty

stadiums would have been a terrible calling card for the country.”

The Derby d’Italia, which could also be a title-decider, is now due to be played May 13.

It was the second straight week that Inter had seen a match postponed because of the new coronavirus. A new date for Sampdoria has yet to be scheduled, with Inter also still involved in the Italian Cup and the Europa League. Also, Thursday’s Europa League match at San Siro was played without fans.

Inter fans protested outside the Serie A headquarters on Sunday, unveiling two banners. One read: “Shameful Lega. You should be ashamed of yourselves,” with the Juventus logo inserted in place of two “i” letters in the original Italian. The second banner read: “Respect for football. Respect for fans.”

Marotta was asked in an interview by Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport about the suggestion that Juventus pressure was behind the decision to postpone the match.

“I’m not very interested in that discussion,” he said. “I say that the whole situation was dealt with badly. It should’ve been handled much quicker. The championship has been falsified. It’s been unbalanced. Inter has been damaged, our fixture list for May is incredible. “What will happen from now on worries me...it should have been the same for all teams this round, even postponing the whole round.”

Marotta was also asked if there was the risk the season wouldn’t be able to finish.

“Yes,” he said. “If more matches are called off then, yes.”

If Inter’s match at Juventus had gone ahead in an empty stadium, it would have taken place at the same time on Sunday as the “clásico” between Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain.

“After the decisions that were made, there should not be even the shadow of suspicion of the uniformity of Serie A,” Italy’s sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Sunday. “We gave the Lega Serie A two options: postpone or play without fans. The Lega opted to postpone, also to avoid having the spectacle of empty stadiums.

“Now it’s up to the Lega to sort this out, even taking apart the fixture list apart and putting it back together if needs be, to balance the calendar in the next few weeks. As minister, I will ask that it does the maximum to guarantee each club equal treatment.”

SPANISH LEAGUE WELCOMES WUHAN TEAM

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ADRID—The Spanish league said Sunday it will donate five tons of disinfectant to the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.

The announcement was made at an event with the Wuhan Zall soccer team, which arrived in Spain in January for preseason training but still doesn’t know when it will be able to return home.

The team was scheduled to attend the “clásico” between Real Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday night at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, with a tour of the Bernabéu on Monday.

“It has not been easy for any of us players,” Wuhan Zall captain

Yao Hanlin said. “We miss our friends and, especially, our families back in Wuhan because it’s them who are going through an extremely hard time. I hope they will persevere in order to go back to normal and get better as soon as possible.”

The league said it organized the event to “show the support and solidarity of Spanish football for the people in China and other countries affected by the virus.”

Members of the Chinese Embassy in Madrid also attended the event, which was conducted in a partnership with the Chinese Super League, where Wuhan Zall plays. The start of the league

has been suspended and is not expected to resume until at least mid-April.

“We’ve been here for over a month but we actually left Wuhan two months ago,” team captain Yao said. “We have been working very hard in training here every day. Our only goal is to be back...in Wuhan and bring joy to our supporters.”

Members of the Wuhan Zall squad were repeatedly tested for the virus after the team arrived in Spain. Nobody was infected, but the team’s Spanish coach, José González, has told The Associated Press that the grandmother of one of the players died because of

the virus in Wuhan.

“They have been training without knowing when the league will start again, coping with family problems back home,” González said in a recent interview. "It would be very easy to disconnect from your profession, very easy, but they have been giving a spectacular lesson of professionalism."

More than 87,000 people worldwide have been infected, and nearly 3,000 have died.

The league said Espanyol, which has a Chinese owner, had already donated 500,000 masks. AP

God’s word in my life

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ET’S ponder: Saint Peter was docile to the inspiration of the spirit and followed its lead. Are we as docile to the spirit as he was? After having been annointed with the Holy Spirit and power, Jesus “went about doing good works.” Are we following His example? God wants to be with us. Do we want to be always with Him ? Oh God, inspire us to remember always that we are in the most holy presence of Yours for ever more. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

Life

CIRCLES: IT IS RONNIE LIM’S TURN TO DICTATE THE RULES D4

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Tuesday, March 3, 2020

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❶

❶ THESE Nadia

Vases taper dramatically with an organic asymmetry, a perfectly imperfect black pattern adding a textured, handcrafted feel to the creamy glaze.

Countless delicate lines stripe the single-stem vases from top to bottom, layered with rings of dashes.

PERFECTLY imperfect cutouts on the Keenan Sideboard’s teak façade create a dynamic pattern of perpendicular lines inspired by traditional Japanese block prints. Crafted of solid teak, teak veneer and mahogany veneer, the three-door credenza feels handcrafted and unique with clean lines that keep it current. Use as a buffet, bar or media center.

❷ ALYA Speckled

Vases are the brand’s modern take on traditional porcelain in freeform. The results are striking, one-of-a-kind vases that display beautifully as a pair or can stand on their own with sprig of greenery or a bunch of marketfresh blooms.

❸ FEEL free to set an artisan-inspired table on the patio or at a busy family gathering with the melamine version of our popular Marin stoneware collection. Set an inspired table indoors or out by coordinating shibori pieces, or a mixed-and-match assortment with other melamine pieces in dark blue, blue or white.

❹ INSPIRED by

traditional Japanese designs are these Mai floral bowls.

Inside the bowl, feathery blossoms explode in white on blue-like botanical fireworks. Add the coordinating Mai plate, platter, sauce dish, and smaller and larger bowls for a cohesive look.

Pair with other Crate & Barrel blue-andwhite dinnerware, serving pieces and table linens.

RICHLY embroidered in bold blue and vibrant persimmon, a painterly flower blooms dramatically across this natural cotton Kaito pillow.

Inspired by traditional Japanese textures, Kaito groups beautifully with other blue-and-white throw pillows, adding a shot of warm color.

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Japanese minimalism meets Scandinavian simplicity T WO spectacular destinations 5,000 miles apart, Japan and Scandinavia are revered for design traditions that— as Filipinos will rediscover this season—really sing together.

Japanese and Scandinavian minimalism evolved at different times, yet the two regions both became famous for valuing natural light and wood. Both cultures like to keep things simple yet beautiful. And when their shared style elements and famous decorative techniques combine in the new Crate & Barrel collection, they make you feel calm, at ease and right at home.

The industry’s leading premium home furnishings specialty retailer, Crate & Barrel (www.crateandbarrel.com) introduces Japan x Scandi as part of its Spring/Summer 2020 Collection.

Mixing elements of iconic style from each region, we meet at the intersection of elegance and warmth, intricacy and simplicity.

Japan x Scandi is where revered design traditions meet and mingle in décor and tabletop pieces. Indigo creates a color story as it dominates this style using the elements of ceramic, medium wood and woven fiber materials.

Japan x Scandi is part of Crate & Barrel’s 2020 Spring/Summer Collection along with The Artist’s Studio, Summer Daydream, Artisan Home and Crate Craft, each aesthetic theme showcasing new designs that are distinctly elegant.

Crate & Barrel’s Spring/Summer 2020 Collection is now available in stores at SM Aura Premier, SM Makati and SM Mega Fashion Hall. ■

CRATE & Barrel Orla Vases have clean curves that show off the gorgeous grain of an Indonesian hardwood favored by Balinese wood carvers. Use the natural wood vases to present faux botanicals, or display as objets d’art on their own or grouped with other pieces.

PAINTERLY strokes in blue and white stripe these plates with unpredictable rhythm. The deep blue contrasts beautifully with the creamy lines, creating a striking dish that brings bold color and pattern to the table.

But first, sleep...

SLEEPING patterns may be influenced by one’s career, daily routine and lifestyle in general. Still, we all have a common need: a comfortable bed conducive to rest.

A global brand in mattresses and pillows,Tempur recently sat down with actress Alice Dixson and journalist/road safety advocate James Deakin to talk about sleep, and why a Tempur mattress should be seen as an essential investment.

News anchor, journalist, TV host, prominent blogger/vlogger, motoring columnist, and road safety advocate all rolled into one—this is James Deakin. The 46-year-old British-Filipino influencer is always on-the-go, and the man is relentless.

Deakin knows that adequate sleep is of primary importance. So he gets the necessary shut-eye when

he can. Hitting the sack at night is a very special moment for him because it signifies the end of what can typically be an arduous day.

Deakin admits to dozing off instantly because of his Tempur mattress. “I sink into bed and just float away. It just wraps around and contours to the body,” he says.

He used to consider a bed merely a means to an end, until he purchased a Tempur mattress.

“They say the biggest investments that people will make in their lives are, one, their home and, second, a car. For me, the third-biggest investment is a good mattress,” he explains. Even his wife is grateful for Tempur because it’s almost like having two single beds. “Tempur is not your traditional mattress where, when the other side tilts, you end up rolling into each other. That’s fine in a

SERIOUSLY, once you’ve experienced a good night’s sleep with Tempur, you will know what you have been missing out on, says James Deakin.

honeymoon but we’ve been married 25 years, so it’s nice to have a little bit of your own space when you’re sleeping,” he laughs. “Seriously, once you’ve experienced a good night’s sleep with Tempur, you will know what you have been missing out on.”

It is said that once one has slept on Tempur (ph. tempur.com), one realizes that it is an unrivaled and incomparable mattress. Its materials adapt and respond to every body shape, weight and temperature to deliver sleeping comfort.

The brand’s sleep innovations trace their roots to the 1970s when Nasa developed a pressure absorbing material to help cushion and support astronauts during liftoff. Today, Tempur is the only mattress and pillow brand licensed by the US Space Foundation to use the Certified Technology Seal.

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Author tells story of overcoming perfectionism

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By Ann Levin The Associated Press

N the 1980s, Elizabeth Tallent was a rising star in the literary world, publishing short stories and books to great acclaim, only to fall silent for the next 22 years.

Her memoir, Scratched (Harper), is her account of why she stopped writing— even as she was teaching creative writing at Stanford—and how she started again.

It’s a harrowing story of overcoming perfectionism, leavened by her dry wit and precise, poetic use of language. Written in a fractured, stream-of-consciousness style that weaves in excerpts from books and articles by psychologists, it begins with her birth in 1954 in a suburban Washington, D.C., hospital.

To the shock and consternation of the nurses, Tallent’s mother refused for several days to hold her daughter, repulsed by the fingernail scratches the infant inflicted on herself in utero. Hence the title Scratched. Years later, Tallent’s mother tells her this story with no apologies, justifying her actions by saying she thought newborns came out “perfect [and] smiley,” like those on a Gerber’s baby food label. And so, from her very first moments of consciousness, Tallent intuits that she is unwanted, imperfect, unloved and unlovable—a

z

fatally flawed, scratched mistake in need of perfecting. Over the course of the book, as she moves back and forth in time, she describes her bourgeois upbringing, relationships with friends and lovers, and intermittent efforts to grapple with her neuroses.

We meet her beloved son Gabriel from a first marriage, with whom she has absolutely no problem bonding; a couple of her gurus and therapists, including a Freudian analyst with whom she has a brief second marriage; and, finally, an antiques dealer in Mendocino, California, who becomes her third spouse and wife, and to whom the book is dedicated.

At the beginning Tallent assembles three epigraphs: one from a psychologist known for his research on perfectionism; another from Virginia Woolf, whose modernist sensibility and tortured psyche find echoes in Tallent’s writing; and one from the great Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto, who expresses a point of view that is the opposite of perfectionism.

He says, “I think perfection is ugly.

Somewhere in the things humans make, I want to see the scars, failure, disorder, distortion.” This book is a record of Tallent’s struggle to show her scratches and to believe, as her young son tells her one day after spilling a glass of milk, “Everybody makes mistakes.”

AUTHOR FINDS JOY LIFE OFFERS IN ‘ON THE BRIGHT SIDE’ WITH the craziness of today’s society, it’s essential that we figure out a way to ground ourselves in what is truly important in life. Best-selling author Melanie Shankle uses wildly entertaining and completely relatable personal narratives to navigate the constant ups and downs of this world by looking On the Bright Side (Zondervan).

Shankle has a gift for storytelling. Her pop cultureinfused essays portray a woman who is living in a digital age of comparison and competition. Is your metabolism supposed to mock you? Does anyone else watch British shows streaming on Netflix with subtitles? Why is the local oldies station playing songs from high-school prom? Shankle has the ability to easily transport the reader into the recesses of her memory as she recalls in great detail a narrative from decades before. And that narrative will inevitably be smothered in laughter.

Not only does Shankle discuss her views on aging gracefully, staying mostly sane while raising a teenage daughter, and making wise fashion choices (because social media is forever), she also shares a vulnerable side. Readers are encouraged to think before speaking, stand firm when fighting to be your true self, embrace the redemptive power of loving others and recognize the importance of being brave.

More than anything, On the Bright Side is about trusting your story from beginning to the end. Don’t forget to pay attention to the middle parts. Accept the person you were created to be. And have no shame in borrowing wise words from the movie Mulan to really drive a life lesson home to a 15-year-old. AP

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Jessica Biel, 38; Julie Bowen, 50; Tone Loc, 54; Jackie JoynerKersee, 58.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Deal with emotional matters swiftly. If something isn’t fixable, have enough sense to walk away. You have far too much to lose if you let others interfere in your life and pursuits. Take the path that will encourage satisfaction, happiness and a bright future. Change begins within; don’t sit on the sideline, waiting for someone to take over. Your lucky numbers are 3, 10, 16, 24, 32, 40, 47.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Resolving issues will require compromise if you want to keep the peace. How you display what you have to offer will have to be authentic and accessible for others to understand. HHHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Get your priorities straight, and you will achieve what you set out to do. Ample preparation will ease stress and ensure your success. Don’t leave a last-minute change in the hands of someone else.

Leave nothing to chance. HHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Your persuasive jargon will result in an emotional battle. Make sure you know and understand what you are saying. Charm may get you a step ahead, but if you don’t have the facts to back up your claims, you’ll be stepping backward. HHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): High energy, coupled with unique ideas, will get you moving in the right direction. Common sense and less drama will help you convince others to get on board and assist you in reaching your objective.

Meetings will bring better results than anticipated. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Finish what you start. If you flit from one thing to another, you will end up going in circles. Don’t believe what you hear. Joint ventures will not turn out as anticipated. Your charm alone won’t help you seal a deal. HHHH

f

‘STRUNG OUT’ IS A WINDOW INTO WORLD OF ADDICTION

A 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL in Los Angeles started using opioids she steals from a family member’s medicine cabinet.

Then she was bold enough to try heroin. Heroin changed her world.

This is the premise of Erin Khar’s new memoir, Strung Out: One Last Hit and Other Lies That Nearly Killed Me (Park Row).

As a child, Khar gets hooked and hits rock bottom.

She struggles with an addiction that waxes and wanes over a 15-year period—while she’s a student in college, working and navigating relationships.

There are plenty of addiction memoirs on the market, but Khar’s book tells the story of a privileged girl growing up with a circle of friends and taking horseback riding lessons. Though her parents are divorced and slightly aloof, from the outside she seems to have it all. The book is Khar’s reflection on how we, as a society, have preconceived notions of addiction that are fallible.

“The stigma associated with opioids, with heroin, with ‘being a junkie,’ prevents people from reaching out,” she writes. “Americans are stuck in a spiral of shame, and that shame drives the vicious cycle of relapse that many drug users get caught in.”

The author writes eloquently about heavy ideas.

When Khar describes her own cycles of relapses and getting clean is particularly insightful and fascinating.

Strung Out is a window into the world of addiction—a world that makes headlines daily.

The reader will likely come away with a clear understanding and empathy for the power that drugs like opioids and heroin have over their victims. AP

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Discuss what you want to do with the people you know will give you good advice. Someone with more experience will offer a suggestion that will encourage you to put your plans in motion. HH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Don’t venture off the beaten track. Stick to the basics, take care of your responsibilities and avoid getting into discussions with people who don’t share your opinions. Schedule rest, and adopt a healthy lifestyle that supports your hectic routine. HHHHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The people you bring into your circle will inspire you.

A change to the way you approach life will improve your attitude, as well as your performance.

Greater respect for someone will develop and bring you closer. HHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Don’t wait for approval to move forward on your own.

You’ll be led astray by someone who doesn’t want to see you succeed. Put greater emphasis on the way you look and how you present yourself to the world.

HHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A change will be enlightening. Taking a new approach to an old idea will help you see flaws that weren’t apparent in the past. A shift in attitude will help you adjust to a healthier, happier lifestyle. HHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Test your ideas, and make changes that will help you explore new possibilities. A project can turn into a prosperous sideline business with a little thought and adjustment to your space that accommodates what you want to pursue. HHHHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Choose to use charm and a positive attitude to get what you want. If you let someone bring you down, it will ruin your day and stifle your prospects. Project what you want, and make it happen. HH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are unique, trendy and relentless.

You are engaging and farsighted.

‘tag team’ BY KATHY WIENBERG The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Dads 4 Construction project on a snow day 8 Pocket liquor containers 14 One may be electric 15 Reebok rival 16 Was nearly depleted 17 Common t-shirt feature 19 Total 20 Jr., formerly 21 Staggers 23 “I have no ___!”

24 Evens up 26 Ascots and cravats 28 “Big” WWI gun 30 Colosseum spectator’s garment 31 Overcome by persisting 33 One might purchase a train 37 UFO crew 38 Put in office 41 Kind of sauce or milk 42 Authority 45 Unpretentious 48 Vehicle hidden in “exit ramp” 51 Famous street of children’s TV

52 Do-it-yourself suds 56 Roof overhang 57 Phone dial abbr.

58 Taking things literally?

60 The Simpsons bus driver 63 Bitter discord 65 Nickname for a Miller Park team 67 Nautical steering device 68 “Old gray” horse of song 69 Holiday ___ Express 70 Dwarf with allergies 71 Fine powder 72 S&L offerings DOWN 1 Bench press muscles, informally 2 Prefix for “dynamic” 3 Rested worry-free 4 Enthusiast 5 Galosh 6 What’s often thrown at a wedding 7 Already reserved 8 Watercolor on fresh plaster 9 PC linking acronym 10 Like peace doves 11 End of many an inflatable obstacle

course 2 South ___ (Yuna Kim’s country) 1 13 Say “#$@&!”

18 Chopper sound 22 Tennis do-over 25 Takeoff guess: Abbr.

27 USSR’s CIA 28 Software test version 29 Piercing tool 31 Name that’s a word meaning “stitch” backward 32 Nancy Drew’s boyfriend 34 Like some yoga poses 35 Rounded roof 36 Tiger part in a Survivor song 39 Sin/___ = tan 40 High-frequency speakers 43 Free from bacteria 44 Sphere 46 Org. concerned with cyber threats 47 Widespread destruction 49 Vein counterpart 50 “I’ve seen better” 52 Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey 53 Agree to be spammed, say

54 Singer Haggard 55 Site with a Symptom Checker 59 Herr’s wife 61 Look after 62 Has 64 Tasseled topper 66 Like a rainy day

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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Tuesday, March 3, 2020

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THE JUANS FILL SHANGRI-LA PLAZA WITH THEIR MELLOW HITS

HEADLINED by Elisabeth Moss, Universal Pictures’s The Invisible Man fueled its opening weekend to a No. 1 finish, pulling in $29 million from North American theaters, with an additional $20.2 million internationally.

‘The Invisible Man’ tops box office with $29 million

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By Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—The Elisabeth Moss-led thriller The Invisible Man rode a wave of good reviews to a very visible spot atop the box office this weekend. Universal Pictures on Sunday estimated that the film from writer-director Leigh Whannell earned $29 million from North American theaters.

Internationally, the Blumhouse production picked up an additional $20.2 million.

Whannell helped dust off the classic H.G. Wells story and update it for modern audiences by focusing on Moss’s victim character instead of the Invisible Man character, who here is an abusive ex-boyfriend.

The Invisible Man carried a relatively modest budget, costing under $10 million to produce, and exceeded expectations by a few million dollars. The film, which had been well-received by critics, drew diverse audiences to the theaters (46 percent Caucasian, 20 percent African-American and 18 percent Hispanic),

according to exit polls.

“We couldn’t be more pleased,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “[Whannell] brought this century-old character to life in a very clever and relevant way.”

The studio expects it to continue to play well into March, although it will have some extra competition when A Quiet Place Part II opens on March 20.

Paramount Pictures’s Sonic the Hedgehog slid to second place in its third weekend in theaters adding $16 million and bringing its domestic total to $128.3 million. The Call of the Wild, with Harrison Ford, placed third in its second weekend with $13.2 million.

Fourth place went to the anime superhero film My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, which opened to $6.3 million from just 1,260 screens. “We should never underestimate films like this that may not have broad recognition among the general public,” said Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

Bad Boys for Life rounded out the top 5 with $4.3 million in its seventh weekend. The Will Smith and Martin Lawrence pic is just shy of reaching the $200-million mark in North America and has earned over $400 million globally.

In limited release, Wendy, Benh Zeitlin’s longawaited follow-up to his Oscar-nominated film Beasts of the Southern Wild, got off to a bumpy start with just $30,000 from four theaters.

The Peter Pan-inspired film has garnered mixed reviews from critics and will be expanding in the coming weeks.

Although it’s still early in the year, overall the box office is up nearly 3.5 percent.

“This weekend it was business as usual in North American theaters,” Dergarabedian said. “People went to the movies to escape the trials and tribulations of

the real world.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore.

Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

1. The Invisible Man, $29 million ($20.2 million international) 2. Sonic The Hedgehog, $16 million ($26.8 million international) 3. The Call of the Wild, $13.2 million ($11 million international) 4. My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, $6.3 million ($117,000 international) 5. Bad Boys for Life, $4.3 million ($4.9 million international) 6. Birds of Prey, $4.1 million ($4.6 million international) 7. Impractical Jokers: The Movie, $3.5 million 8. 1917, $2.7 million ($5.3 million international) 9. Brahms: The Boy II, $2.6 million ($2.4 million international) 10. Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island, $2.3 million ($1.9 million international).

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the US and Canada), according to Comscore: 1. Sonic The Hedgehog, $26.8 million 2. The Invisible Man, $20.2 million 3. The Call of the Wild, $11 million 4. The Gentlemen, $8.5 million 5. Dolittle, $6.4 million 6. Parasite, $5.8 million 7. 1917, $5.3 million 8. Bad Boys for Life, $4.9 million 9. Birds of Prey, $4.6 million 10. 10 Jours Sans Maman, $2.7 million. n

Rep’s ‘Anna in the Tropics’ turns up heat with dark family drama IN Repertory Philippines’s latest production, Anna in the Tropics by Cuban-American playwright Nilo Cruz, dark family dramas intermingle with dangerous intentions. With a stylized and modern treatment, this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama promises to further Rep’s pursuit of bringing intelligent and thoughtprovoking material to the fore.

In sunny Tampa, Florida, in the 1930s, things are not as bright as they seem. In one of the last remaining factories that still rolls cigars by hand, the Alcazar family eagerly awaits the arrival of their new lector, Juan Julian. When he starts reading from Leo Tolstoy’s Russian classic Anna Karenina, the scandalous lives of the characters start to bleed into the lives of his avid listeners as they come to terms with their torrid extramarital affairs, unresolved bitterness and forbidden yearnings.

Each character’s destiny somehow intertwines with Anna Karenina, and

FROM left: Brian Sy as Palomo, Skyzx Labastilla as Conchita and Ricardo Magno as Juan Julian in Rep’s Anna in the Tropics.

they undergo a profound, undeniable transformation—a testament to the power of literature, for better or worse.

Anna in the Tropics will be directed by noted New York-based production designer Joey Mendoza who, in

addition to donning the cap of set designer for the show, will also be making his directorial debut.

He is joined by fellow New Yorkbased creatives Fabian Obispo for sound design and Becky Bodurtha for

costume design.

They team up with Barbie TanTiongco for light design and GA Fallarme for video projection design.

The powerhouse cast includes Skyzx Labastilla as Conchita, Gab Pangilinan as Marela, Paolo O’Hara as Cheche, Gie Onida as Santiago, Madeleine Nicolas as Ofelia, Brian Sy as Palomo, and Ricardo Magno as Juan Julian.

This strong veteran cast, more widely known for their Tagalog productions, will be treading the boards together for the first time in Anna in the Tropics, heralding their Rep debut performances.

Brimming with intrigue and scandal, Anna in the Tropics is a steamy dark tale of passion that nonetheless speaks to universal themes of family, love and misfortune.

Tickets are available from Rep at 8451-1474, or Ticketworld at 8891-9999.

More information is available at www. repertoryphilippines.ph.

POP rock band The Juans promises to give everyone a memorable night of sentimental melodies on March 7, 7 pm, at the Grand Atrium in Shangri-La Plaza.

The Juans—comprised of Carl Guevarra (keys/ vocals), Japs Mendoza (guitar/vocals), RJ Cruz (acoustic guitar/vocals), Chael Adriano (bass/ vocals), and Josh Coronel (drums)—has been appealing to Filipino audiences with their heartfelt songs and sensitive lyrics since 2013.

Their song “Hindi Tayo Pwede” has reached 24 million views on YouTube and bagged the No. 1 spot on Spotify Philippines’s Viral 50 charts. In 2016, their hit song “Prom” took home Original Song of the Year by a Group at the Wish Music Awards. The band was also named Favorite Group of the Year at the MYX Music Awards in 2017.

More information about The Juans show is available at www.facebook.com/shangrilaplazaofficial.

Spielberg daughter arrested on domestic charge in Tennessee A DAUGHTER of film director Steven Spielberg was arrested in Tennessee in a domestic incident involving her boyfriend, police said.

Mikaela Spielberg, 23, was charged with domestic assault causing bodily injury early Saturday.

Spielberg was released from a jail in Nashville jail later Saturday, jail records showed.

According to a Metropolitan Nashville Police affidavit, officers said Spielberg and her boyfriend were involved in an argument after returning from a bar. After the victim made a “rude comment” toward Spielberg, she started throwing objects at him, injuring his hand and wrist, WTVC-TV reported.

Jail records didn’t indicate whether she has an attorney who could comment on the charge. A March 9 court hearing on the charge was scheduled. AP

BRITAIN’S Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, left, smiles with musician Jon Bon Jovi at Abbey Road Studios in London. AP

The prince and the pop star work on charity single in London LONDON—Prince Harry joined Jon Bon Jovi at Abbey Road Studios in London on Friday as the singer recorded a charity single to support the foundation that oversees the “Invictus Games”—a multinational sports event for sick and injured servicemen.

The prince and the pop star greeted each other at the studio where the Beatles recorded a string of iconic albums.

Bon Jovi was rerecording his 2019 single “Unbroken’’ in aid of the foundation that oversees the sporting event founded by Harry. The song was created to shine a spotlight on veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The pair were seen in a recording booth wearing headphones. Bon Jovi had a guitar.

“We’ve been gargling next door, so we’re ready to go,” Harry told an engineer.

The event is one of the last official engagements being undertaken by Prince Harry, who has announced he is stepping back from royal duties next month. AP

D4

Art

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ACC PHILIPPINES OPENS 20TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR WITH LEON GALLERY BENEFIT ART AUCTION

THE Asian Cultural Council Philippines (ACCP) Foundation opened its 20th anniversary celebration this year with the ACC Art Auction last February 22 at Leon Gallery.

An important endeavor that bonds ACCP and Jaime de Leon of the premiere auction house Leon Gallery, the event featured an array of impressive works topped by a 1930 Fabian dela Rosa painting in oil The 2 Daughters of Rafael Palma and Ang Kiukok’s 2001 oil piece Still Life (Window Series). Other works by modern and contemporary masters such as Hidalgo, Manansala, Malang, Bencab, Sanso and Lao Lianben were also featured as part of the more than 150 pieces that went up for bidding.

The ACC Art Auction 2020 was the sixth collaboration of ACCP and Leon Gallery. As Chairman Ernest L. Escaler and President Maribel Ongpin affirmed, “It is a partnership that has grown formidable with the shared aim of promoting Filipino artists.” Immensely grateful of the invaluable and generous contributions by Leon Gallery and private benefactors through the years, the ACCP is ever more ardent in its mission, shared across the ACC offices in New York, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tokyo.

A fulfilling journey of engaging and supporting creative stalwarts and young brilliant talents under its grants fold, the role of ACC has never been more crucial and vital. It paves opportunities for creative explorations, personal empowerment and essential cultural connections.

ACC remains relevant in providing a distinct grants program that advances international dialogue, understanding, and respect through meaningful cultural exchange anywhere in the US and Asia.

At the most opportune time, the Philippine Fellowship Program continues to make a marked difference in the lives of a growing list of Filipino artists, scholars, art professionals and institutions. To date, over 300 individuals—experts, leading contemporary and young emerging artists in theater, music, dance, literature, architecture, and other allied arts, including institutions and organizations—make up the prolific grantees list. It is bannered by National Artists Lucresia Kasilag, Jose Maceda, Francisco Feliciano and Ramon Santos for Music; Jose Joya for Visual Arts, Alice Reyes for Dance, Kidlat Tahimik for Film; and institutions such as the Asian Composers League, Ballet Philippines, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Museo Pambata, National Museum, and UP Ethnomusicology, to name a few.

The online application period for the annual ACC Fellowship starts on September 1 until November 1 via www. asianculturalcouncil.org.

BLISSFUL Emotion II, Ronnie Lim, acrylic on canvas, 48” x 24”

JT NISAY

jtnisay@gmail.com

T NATIONAL AWARDS 2020 PHILIPPINE WINNERS ANNOUNCED

THE World Photography Organization and Sony Philippines reveal that North Gevero is the Philippines’s National Award winner for the Sony World Photography Awards 2020.

The National Awards program is an initiative set up by the World Photography Organization and Sony to support local photographic communities across 63 countries from around the world. The program awards one photographer from each nation for a stand-alone image and presents them with the opportunity to showcase their work to a global audience at the renowned Sony World Photography Awards 2020 exhibition at Somerset House, London, from April 17 to May 4.

Gevero was anonymously selected by judges for the photograph Master, submitted for the Portraiture category of the Open competition. Sharing more details about the winning shot, Gevero said, “This shot is a stitch panorama character portrait of a friend.”

Over 345,000 images were submitted to the Sony World Photography Awards 2020 competition and over 190,000 entered the Open competition for Portraiture—the highest number of entries to date.

As the Philippines’s National Award winner, Gevero will receive Sony A7R IV and SEL2470GM. Produced by the World Photography Organization, the internationally acclaimed Sony World Photography Awards is one of the most important fixtures in the global photographic calendar. Now in its 13th year, the free-to-enter awards are a global voice for photography and provide vital insight into contemporary photography.

For both established and emerging artists, the awards offer world-class opportunities for exposure of their work.

The awards additionally recognize the world’s most influential artists working in the medium through the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Awards. Previous recipients include Martin Parr, William Eggleston and Nadav Kander.

The awards showcase the works of winning and shortlisted photographers at a prestigious annual exhibition at Somerset House, London.

To book tickets, visit bit.ly/2I6qIDC.

ETHEREAL Beauty, Ronnie Lim, acrylic on canvas, 48” x 24”

It is Ronnie Lim’s turn to dictate the rules CIRCLES

NORTH GEVERO, Philippines, National Award Winner, Sony World Photography Awards 2020

IMAGINARY Ambition II, Ronnie Lim, acrylic on canvas, 48” x 24”

HE artistic career of Dr. Ronnie Lim began and took off by abiding with what is known and recognized. In his latest pursuit of the next, fueled by a force that has so far taken him from being a doctor to a businessman to an artist, Lim breaks out of the established corners of realism and floats into the subjective galaxy of abstract art.

Flora Vida marks Lim’s first solo exhibition of purely nonfigurative works, featuring vibrant abstractions of flowers. The show opened last week and will run until March 6 at Galerie Joaquin in The Podium.

“With realism, you deal with forms and shapes;

there are so many rules. With abstract, it’s freedom from all these things,” Lim said.

The craving for freedom started as a thought to experiment with color. This is not to suggest that the artist’s regarded realist renditions of tigers and ballerinas as bland, but by pursuing and ultimately succeeding to capture the dormant ferocity and gracious flow of his subjects, his color choices were dictated by what was established.

Such was not the case for Flora Vida. Lim used “all the colors of the color wheel” and played with hues to his full expression. Flowers, he was advised, would allow him to execute the color rush, and the result is a show that bursts in color and, as has been with Lim’s past works, life.

The artist combined fluid art with brushstrokes for images of petals that appear to be in a constant motion and would seem different in every viewing.

What remains constant is a perceived sense of calm and bliss from the soft edges and warm colors.

While a purely abstract show is a first for the artist, creating paintings that evoke positivity is hardly new. Lim has created a realism series that deals with happiness and inspiration with equally colorful subjects: koi fishes. It was among the many

figurative pieces of the artist that garnered acclaim since he decided to become a full-time artist in 2008.

Lim, 57, used to be a pediatrician. He was accelerated and graduated cum laude from the B.S. Biology program at the University of Santo Tomas, where he also studied medicine. There, he reignited his passion for sketching as a young boy during anatomy classes.

After graduating and taking pediatric residency at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in 1993, Lim decided to pursue business abroad. In 2008, he followed another passion: visual arts.

Lim trained under the tutelage of artist Rey Aurelio at the Arte Pintura Gallery. He continued learning by himself and studied the works of masters. In 2013, Lim had his first solo exhibition of figurative works on boxers, babies, tigers, goldfish and his wife. It was an introduction of who he was and what he dealt with, and he never looked back from then on.

In 2019, Lim had his first solo show at ManilArt that turned out to be a huge success. He said his current focus is on repeating the feat this year with another one-man exhibition at the annual art showcase. ■

Virus fears close down France’s Louvre Museum

BY JOHN LEICESTE� The Associated Press PARIS—The spreading coronavirus epidemic shut down France’s Louvre Museum on Sunday, with workers who guard its famous trove of artworks fearful of being contaminated by the museum’s flow of visitors from around the world.

“We are very worried because we have visitors from everywhere,” said Andre Sacristin, a Louvre employee and union representative for its staffers.

“The risk is very, very, very great,” he said in a phone interview. While there are no known virus infections among the museum’s 2,300 workers, “it’s only a question of time,” he said.

A short statement from the Louvre said a staff meeting about virus prevention efforts stopped the museum from opening as scheduled Sunday morning. Would-be visitors were still waiting Sunday afternoon to get inside the world’s most visited museum. Almost three-quarters of the Louvre’s 9.6 million visitors last year came from abroad.

Among the frustrated visitors

Sunday was Charles Lim from Singapore. He and his wife, Jeanette, chose Paris to celebrate their first wedding anniversary and bought tickets in advance for the Louvre, home to the Mona Lisa and other famous artworks. He posted a video on Twitter of the long lines of people waiting to get in.

“We waited for about three hours before giving up,” he told The Associated Press. “It was incredibly disappointing.”

The shutdown followed a government decision Saturday to ban indoor public gatherings of more than 5,000 people.

Sacristin said new measure exacerbated the fears of Louvre workers that they might be in danger of contamination, because the museum welcomes tens of thousands of visitors each day. Also worrying staffers is that museum workers from northern Italy are now visiting the Louvre. They have come to collect works by Leonardo da Vinci that were loaned for a major exhibition, he said.

Another meeting about virus prevention is scheduled for Monday between union representatives and the

A TOURIST wearing a mask makes a selfie outside the Louvre Museum on February 28, in Paris. The world is scrambling to get on top of the new coronavirus outbreak that has spread from its epicenter in China to most corners of the planet. AP

museum management, said Sacristin, who will be taking part.

He said museum visitors should be subjected to health checks to protect staffers and if any cases of coronavirus contamination are confirmed “then the museum should be closed.”

Workers have asked for masks to be distributed but so far have been

given only an alcohol-based solution to disinfect their hands, he said.

“That didn’t please us at all,” he said.

Louvre workers first held their own meeting on Sunday morning and then demanded talks with the museum management, he said, and some staffers were refusing to work because they fear contamination.